Newbury RFC were delighted to host Forces Barbarians, the rugby club for former (or serving) service personnel, to Monks Lane for another floodlit Friday spectacle; only the second match since veterans rugby was re-launched at the club in November.

With the weather set mild and the lights on during warmup, our visitors unsurprisingly gave the impression of a strong bunch of guys, so Newbury immediately knew they had a game on their hands. The first ten minutes of the game were solid, with both teams looking comfortable and competitive, Newbury possibly the more cohesive as a group that have played together before, whereas the opposition having strong runners but less fluid as a team.

Newbury got points on the board first after a few minutes spent in the opposition's half, with powerful and dynamic running from Simon Niven at 15, who ploughed over the line to the relief of the home supporters. The conversion was neatly made by Yann Cullum at 9 and his boot was required again a few minutes later when Newbury won a penalty under Forces Barbarians' posts and kicked to make the score 10-0 to the home team.

The scoreboard didn't reflect the intensity of the game however, and with possession going each way for a good 10 minutes, Barbarians finally opened their account with a good score and conversion next to the posts. The finely balanced exchanges continued, in the centre of the field, until out of nowhere Callum Steward (aka Bobby) at 12 broke through the line and led a foot-chase over the line for Newbury's second try, without conversion this time.

But Barbarians weren't out of the picture, winning a penalty close to the end of the first half. The visitors set a good maul from their resulting line-out around 10 metres from Newbury's line, and found a hole on the blindside to run in another try under the sticks, converted to leave the half-time score at 15-14 to Newbury - and a finely balanced half of entertaining rugby!

The scoreboard didn't budge for at least 10 minutes of the second half, until Newbury decided to go wide through the hands from left of the pitch to right, enabling James McCarthy at 14 to find plenty of space from 70 metres out and outpace the opposition full-back to dive into the right corner.

There was no panic from Forces Barrbarians, who were beginning to find some cohesion as a team and used their strength and direct running to break tackles and barge over the try line for their try which was unconverted but took the score back to within one point at 20-19 to Newbury. It was clear that this game was going the distance with nothing between the teams and a strong physical battle at every breakdown.

There wasn't much time left, when from deep within Newbury's half, Simon Niven opened up the smallest of channels on the left wing with impressive pace, determined to add 5 more to his opening try and see Newbury home. He managed to evade all of the opposition's defenders over the line, before diving over in what felt like a decisive blow from Newbury. A solid conversion from Yann Cullum made it 27-19 with only a few minutes remaining on the clock.

It felt like Newbury could sense victory but didn't want to give an inch, camping just in the opposition's territory for several minutes, until in the 80th minute of the game a mis-timed run from an offside position to compete for a ball in the air gave Craig Login penalty advantage and he neatly danced his way over the line to seal a tightly contested game that really could have gone either way.

As soon as the final whistle had blown, both hosts and visitors came together to celebrate a fantastic game of rugby, played in exactly the spirit we all wanted. Both teams are keen to play again, first away at their home ground, and then a return visit around the same time next season. Newbury Bulldogs are recruiting veterans, welcoming men over-35 who want to enjoy all the game has to offer. Go to the Newbury RFC website for more information.