Two from two in the league

Our little darlings were also eager to get back into the fray – frustrated by weeks of only being able to argue with and practice tackling on parents and siblings. Our opponents had arrived especially early to begin their warm up exercises and their supporters had high expectations. It was 6° above freezing – with a winter sun hugging the treelines – and boy were we in for a treat!

It was an enthusiastic start to 2010 by Redingensians who spent the first two minutes of the game camped on Bracknell’s try line. After a good solid scrum and drive over the line - the first attempt at a score was held up. But after 5 minutes of the match – Scotty managed to get the ball down (5 – 0). Henry’s first kick of 2010 missed its mark – but we were off to a good start. The restart saw both sides practising their kicking skills, eventually resulting in an ‘Ensians knock on. There was good aggressive play by both sides, and after weeks of silence - Sean effortlessly returned to helping the referee from the touchline on a number of the finer points of the game. On the pitch, Sam was marshalling the players – and provided an excellent breakthrough run off a Bracknell line out.

The next 10 minutes highlighted the recent lack of game time with both sides losing the ball from a series of knock ons through poor handling. Where penalties were awarded - opportunities were lost – but ‘Ensians were having some success in spoiling Bracknell’s line outs. The last 5 minutes of the first half saw Bracknell attack ‘Ensians 22 – but good defense forced errors and prevented Bracknell from scoring in the first half. Henry was taken off with a nasty ankle injury (pictures of stud marks available!)

Half Time: Redingensians 5 Bracknell 0

A poor kick off by Bracknell gave ‘Ensians a scrum within the first 10 seconds of the second half – but team talk at half time had obviously fired up the visitors as they took it against the head. Bracknell were on a charge – but a brilliant tackle by Scotty (it was just like a Lion bringing down a Gazelle!) foiled their initial attempt. However, further sustained attack by Bracknell led to them taking another scrum against the head on ‘Ensians 5m line and after 8 minutes of the second half – Bracknell scored. Conversion was missed so score was even at 5 – 5.

Ed was taken off the pitch – and our resident first-aider gave us his professional opinion – Ed had been ‘squashed’!

‘Ensians began to lose shape, and with Bracknell enthused by their try – the visitors spent much of the next 5 minutes dominating both possession and territory. Sam came off with a blood injury – and with the ‘Ensians backs losing all shape and missing crucial tackles – Bracknell scored their second with a 4 man overlap. Another missed conversion – but the score was now 5 – 10.

Isn’t adrenalin a funny thing? That second score by Bracknell injected some pace into Ensians and before you could blink – the home side were 5 metres from Bracknell’s try line and recycling the ball with urgency. The ball stalled within a metre of the try line – and after two further scrums – the ball was carried over the line but held up – not again!!
One more scrum and some close handling – Scotty took the ball over the line right under the posts. (10 – 10) With no-one knowing how much time was left – it was quickly apparent that the conversion kick was likely to be crucial to the outcome of the game – and unusually volunteers were scarce! Chris A bravely stepped forward and with all 15 of the Bracknell players staring him out – he managed to kick it straight and low – but not too low!! (12 – 10)

Neither the spectators nor the players knew how long was left in the game – so Bracknell kicked off with all guns blazing. The Bath Road time-space continuum appeared to slow down as parents’ ani (yes it’s a plural!) puckered up. The crowd were in a frenzy, the players on both sides were in a frenzy, you could hear the referees watch ticking slowly, the coaches held their breath, birds stopped beating their wings, small animals hid their eyes behind their paws. ‘Ensians defended magnificently – but Bracknell kept the ball in hand and passed down the line edging ever closer. One last tackle took the ball to ground – and on a turnover (or was it a penalty?), ‘Ensians kicked the ball into touch and the referee blew the final whistle!

It turned out to have been 5 minutes of play since the ‘Ensians’ last score – and probably the longest 5 minutes of the season so far. In the final analysis – both sides had played a great entertaining game of rugby probably made all the better for the spectators because of the long layoff due to the weather.

Final Score: Redingensians 12 Bracknell 10

Highlights diligently recorded and transposed by Kevin Southworth