Old foes beat Bedford Swifts

Bedford Swifts played their first home game of the season on Saturday 2nd October against their old rivals Brackley. This fixture has always been a intense affair and this one followed suit.

The match started with both teams having unsuccessful forays into their opponents half. Brackley scored the first points with an easy penalty. Paul Robson replied with a similar penalty to make it 3-3.

Some great defence from Bedford Swifts kept Brackley out, with Andrew Stocks and Solomon Sohota putting in some bone crunching tackles. With a focus on defence and one on one tackling in training the previous Wednesday, it was great to see some excellent tackling technique which swifts had lacked in their previous games.

The first try of the match was scored by Bedford Swfits. A quick penalty was taken and the ball was spun out to the left hand side. A Brackley penalty on their line allowed for anoth tap penalty and the ball was spun out wide by the backs and the ball was just short of the line. But out of nowhere came a big rumbling towards the ruck, and Solomon Sohota offered himself to power over the line for a great try! Paul Robson added the extras from out wide.

Bedford Swifts were in the driving seat now, and solid defence and tactical kicking, pegging Brackley back.

Half time Swifts 10-6 Brackley

Swifts were on course to register their first win of the season if they kept on playing like they did in the first half. Unfortunately they seemed to take their foot of the gas at the start. Although the tackling was still good, rucking was now the issue. When swifts had the ball in the ruck there was no security for Ashley Mattin to get the ball out. This was also the case at the scrums, which were dominant in the first half.

Brackley scored early in the first half, and scored another two when there were no post markers for swifts at the ruck and they ghosted through the middle to score.

Brackley kept up the pressure and ran out eventual winners in the end.

There is lots more to do in training, rucking now the focus. Fitness was also an issue with a lot of the forwards walking round the pitch rather than jogging. Jamie Goss has sessions on Tuesday's evenings which will help with this. Training Wednesday night.