Bracknell U13B 19 - Newbury U13B 43

Newbury B got their Berkshire Youth League season underway with a great performance away against Bracknell B which but for a few mistakes resulting in a couple of interception tries by Bracknell would have seen the Blues win by a much higher margin. The whole team did well with lots of work from the forwards, some tenacious tackling by the backs in open play, and great teamwork resulting in turnovers.

A period of sustained pressure by the Blues saw them open the scoring from a 5 metre line out with Bracknell's throw. Will Butcher took a clean catch to steal the throw and drove for the Bracknell line, making it all the way to score. The conversion was missed. The Blues scored again soon after from a tap penalty on the halfway line. Will Butcher carried the ball deep into the Bracknell half from the tap before moving it onto Matt King who drove it on into the Bracknell 22 before popping it up for Callum Hambrecht on the wing for him to crash through the covering wing and fullback to score. The conversion was missed.

Next a chip kick to the wing by David West was picked up by Callum Hambrecht who ran on before handing off to Matt King who drove on deep into the Bracknell 22 before being stopped. The Blues forwards drove on through a couple of rucks close to the line, sucking in the Bracknell cover so that when it was fed out to the backs David West was able to run through and score under the posts. David also added the conversion.

By now the Blues were 17-0 up and had hardly spent any time in their own half. The Blues were attacking again but a careless pass in midfield was intercepted by one of the Bracknell centres who ran from his own half to score under the posts. The Conversion was made.

The Blues dominance was built upon a good performance from their forwards who recycled and stole a lot of ball. Once again they were able to steal the ball after a breakdown in mid-field. The ball was fed blind out to Callum on the wing who was once again able to crash through the covering wing and fullback to score, including a really good strong handoff which put the Bracknell wing on his backside. The conversion was missed.

This meant the Blues led 22-7 at the half-time break.

Changes were made in the forwards and backs at half-time but the Blues continued to dominate at the start of the second half. A line out on the Bracknell 5 metre was won by them but the subsequent defensive kick was charged down by the Blues and recovered by the forwards, the ball was moved quickly down the line to Callum on the wing for him to score again. David added the conversion.

Next up a scrum was won against the head by the Blues close to the halfway line. The ball was fed blind to Callum who was once again able to run through the Bracknell defence and score under the posts. David added the conversion.

A further period of pressure from the Blues forwards saw them camped on the Bracknell 22. The ball was fed to David at fly-half and his cross-kick was picked up at the 5 metre line on the wing by Ieuan Cleghorn who ran on an dived over in the corner. David kicked a great conversion from close to the touch-line.

By now the Blues were 43-7 up. Maybe because a bit of cockiness crept in because of the size of the lead, maybe because the forwards were starting to tire but in the last 10 minutes of the half Bracknell had a lot more of the ball and it was a much more even contest. Good pressure from Bracknell saw a Newbury defensive pass intercepted by the same centre who once again ran through to score under the posts. The conversion was made.

Bracknell scored once more with a good move with the ball making it all the way to the winger who made a great run beating two covering Newbury players to score in the corner. The conversion was missed.

Callum Hambrecht finished with 4 tries and the Blues Man-of-the-Match award.

Special mentions should also go to Archie Fleck and David West for excellent performances in the half-back paring which gave the team the control and time they needed to go forward.

All-in-all a great performance and start to their league campaign by the Bs but also a pointer to a few things to be worked on before the encounter with Maidenhead.