On a day when results elsewhere confirmed Drifters 2nd XV’s promotion into BB&O3 they celebrated their elevation in fine style against Reading Abbey’s 2’s/3’s/vets.

Drifters looked the more complete side from the start and opened the scoring when a quick tap penalty from Peter Whitby saw him jink his way past eight Abbey players to put the bulky Ryan Guerin over in the corner. Although Abbey were a more one dimensional team they were good at that one dimension and came straight back into the game through a try from a number of barracking runs from their strong forwards with the conversion giving them the lead.

Drifters stuck to their task well and when Abbey dropped the ball in midfield veteran forward Morgan grabbed it and set off on a mazy run before feeding Adam Kalinowski to stroll home.

They extended their lead when Corcoran robbed the Abbey 8 and Olly Ashton was the first to reach his own chip ahead and bring a half time score of 17-7.

Matt White came on in the second half and his first act of the game was to snatch an interception and run the length of the pitch to finish with a flamboyant dive but Ashton’s controversial tactic of passing behind his centres and kicking the ball backwards gave Abbey the field position to score their second converted try.

In the last quarter though Drifters youth and superior fitness paid dividends and they comfortably saw out the game aided by the introduction of the powerful and intelligent Llewellyn Pengelly fo’shizzle.

Half man half moron Aiden Thomas nearly got over at a lineout despite playing with a groin injury picked up before the match but Tom Whitby used his exceptional agility and acceleration to charge down Abbey’s clearance kick and get to the ball first. Unfortunately his conversion attempt didn’t quite make it off the ground. Shortly after Jesus Brynseels’ quick thinking saw him streak over from a tap penalty after the Abbey stand-off was caught with the ball and the final try fittingly came from skipper FatSam James who got on the end of a move involving Whitby Minor, Guerin, Brynseels, Rae, Morgan and White.
Astonishingly he also added the conversion with a drop kick to bring a final score of 41-14.

Many of the Abbey side play in the league that Drifters’ are going into which should be an encouraging sign that they have nothing to fear next season and can set an achievable target of a consecutive promotions.