With the delay to the start of the season everyone was happy to get underway and Newbury Stags arrived at Bracknell with high hopes from pre-season, well attended training sessions and a full squad. New player / coach George Robinson-Slater was in boisterous mood with the enthusiastic team being out early for the warm up and pre-game fine tuning.

Travis Boulton started the game with one of very few mistakes in the day as the adrenaline put too much through his right foot and the kick off went straight out resulting in a midfield scrum for the home side. Scrums were keenly contested and pretty even all day with Gareth Barnett making his debut on the loose head and Fred Henderson on the tight side starting his first full senior season. A few phases later a loose kick from Bracknell went straight to Newbury wing Robin Swann who started a powerful run to get to outside the Bracknell defence. Jacob Avery was the grateful recipient of the pass for the first try of the season which was converted successfully by Travis Boulton who would be faultless off the tee all day.

From the subsequent kickoff Bracknell were fired up making ground through a number of phases with Newbury eventually conceding a try wide out and with the conversion missed the score was 5-7. Stags redoubled their efforts from the restart and went through their own multi-phase period with the attacking pods making runs through Fred Henderson and Gareth Barnett. The forwards had then created space for the backs to stress Bracknell’s resolve leading to a penalty for a defender offside on the Bracknell 10m line. Sid Adams saw space for a quick tap and made ground with Rhys Kemp in support , and a few phases later Morgan Gray found himself with room to run in for Newbury’s second try with the Boulton conversion taking the score to 5-14.

The referee had a good game and tried to keep it moving well but some repeated offenses at the breakdowns by Bracknell’s tacklers not getting out of the way quickly enough led to a yellow card. A man down Bracknell still made in-roads into Newbury’s half but a knock on led to a scrum inside Newbury’s 22 from which Sid Adams put up a box kick that was contested on Newbury’s 10m by Robinson Swann. He rose above his opposition winger turning in the air and found himself running free with the fullback to beat, Sid Adams followed in support but was not required as Swann raced over under the posts taking the score when converted to 5-21. Robin Swann then crossed the line for a second time as Stags got into their stride following some effective phase play with good runs from Jacob Avery and Euan Baird through the middle. The conversion took the score to 5-28 with half time coming shortly after and a very happy George Robinson-Slater brought Stags together for a mid game team-talk with some wise words from captain Ted Dyer. The first substitution was then made with Alex Leadbetter coming on for Robin Swann for the second half.

After the break Bracknell were rejuvenated and broke into Newbury’s half, a knock on led to a scrum but some solid scrum pressure from Bracknell was rewarded with a penalty. Their forwards then took control of the ball and some forceful charges carried them over the try line despite Newbury’s defensive effort, unfortunately in that effort Sid Adams misjudged a tackle and received a yellow card for not using his arms. The try was converted reducing Bracknell’s arrears at 12-28. Having lost their scrum half for 10 minutes Newbury kept to their task and managed the period well to not concede any more points. Further substitutions were made with Cole Whorriskey and Taylor Bangezhano bringing fresh legs and energy in replacing Sam Croton and Brad Pullen who had both put in 55 minutes of hard work in the back row. Bracknell were then the recipients of their second yellow card as a player was adjudged to have deliberately kicked the ball through a ruck although he pleaded his innocence in having only intended to hook it back. That left Newbury a man up and a solid scrum allowed Stags to break down the blindside with Jacob Avery making another strong burst through attempted tackles then ghost round the fullback for his second try. This restored Newbury’s advantage to 12-35.

Whorriskey and Bangezhano had been rampant since joining the fray and combined in a tackle to create a turnover that Robin Swann made the most of having returned to the field as he broke away to complete his hat-trick bringing to score to 12-42. Cole Whorriskey continued to be physical with some robust tackling that unfortunately earned him a yellow card late in the game as one too many slipped high. George Robinson-Slater could not resist a cameo performane coming on for Gareth Barnett as the last couple of minutes passed. A good game played in the right spirit was followed by drinks and awards with Jacob Avery earning Player of the Match but the whole team put in a great performance that they hope to build on with their next game at home to Aldermaston on Saturday 3rd October.