So the final league match of the season is upon us. The God’s had smiled on the Old Bath Road ground and a hefty deluge of Friday rain that softened the ground nicely, had been replaced by lovely spring sunshine to provide perfect rugby conditions. Bring it on!

In the absence of injured skipper Oakley, Randall lead a focused looking squad out for action. Thatcham elected to kick off and a fumbled receipt by Cents gave an attacking scrum to the opposition. They secured the ball and pinged it out, only to be met by quick aggressive defence by the Cents backs and the tone for the match was set as Centre Griffiths put in a thumping text book tackle on his opposite number who knocked on. The home side secured the ball well with the engine room of Taylor and Kessell providing the grunt as No 8 Randall picked the ball from the base of the scrum and took the ball to the opposition. After several phases and interchanges between forwards and backs scrum half Gough released Leicester who popped an inside ball to Randall who scored the first try, converted by Dampier.

Shortly after the restart Randall scored his second, a fine solo effort from within his own 10 meter line. He charged down the right flank brushing off would be tacklers to score in the corner. Unconverted.

The home sides defence was immense from start to finish and Thatcham struggled to make meaningful yards when they did get their hands on the ball. Rose and Griffiths continued to tackle their little socks off in the Centre. Cents third try of the afternoon came from the ever lively Leicester who received the ball just inside the opposition half, jinked inside his opposite number and broke through to score under the posts. Converted comfortably by Dampier.

Cents set piece work was solid with Timms and Dias securing good lineout ball. From another solid scrum just outside the visitors 22 nippy scrum half Gough eventually found a rampaging Dias as he cut a fine line against the grain to score a fine try out wide. Unconverted.

Thatcham to their credit never let their heads drop and looked likely to score when a fine cover tackle from Bell, appearing like an exocet from the opposite wing, saved the day. Regaining possession well, Cents backs attacked with speed and accuracy, much to th delight of the forwards! Winger Wilkinson was the next beneficiary as he cut inside from his wing to score. Converted by Dampier. From the restart Randall secured the ball, made ground and popped a pass to full back Dampier who took the ball at pace inside his own half and scampered down the right hand touch line to score another fine try. He converted his own try.

With the backs in quick attack mode it was a challenging afternoon for the forwards who to a man put in a fine performance. Prop Jones had his game of the season, popping up all over the place, and tighthead Pallet also caused mayhem; putting in some bone crunching tackles and working industriously in the tight exchanges. Hooker Cushine-Palmer consistently found his jumpers in the lineout and had a number of trundles in the loose.

Wilkinson scored his second of the afternoon when he made a trade mark break from his own half. The Thatcham full back managed to tap tackle him several meters out but he held on to the ball well, regained his feet, tripped over, crawled a little, scrambled to his feet before finally falling over the line much to the delight of the crowd, and scored in the corner. Unconverted. The final try of the half came from Kessell who managed to pinch a defensive 5 meter lineout and plunged over to score. Half time an impressive 48 - 0.

Things inevitable slowed just a little after the break, but the standard of rugby played by both sides was still good. Brown, Southworth and Vinluan joined the fray. Gough capped his fine performance with the first try of the second half when he scampered over from the base of a very solid scrum. Converted by Dampier.

The supporters breathed a big sigh of relief when Thatchams efforts were rewarded by an unconverted try, but from the restart Cents were quickly on the front foot again. Jones turned the ball over well in defence to offload to the marauding Kessell who caused havoc as he burst into the opposition half brushing bodies aside left, right & centre before timing a perfect pass to Leicester who in turn jinked over to score. Dampier converted.

Kessell scored his second of the match when he received the ball whilst lurking out on the wing. Once again he brushed several would be tacklers aside as he steamrollered his way over the try line, swatted the full back aside and dotted down under the posts. Dampier split the uprights.

Thatcham scored their second shortly after. Unconverted.

Cents 12th try was a trade mark score by the illusive Bell who jinked in and out of opposition players before lighting the afterburners and blasting down the right wing to score. The final try of the afternoon came from Wilkinson, but was the result of some very quick handling by the backs as they interchanged the ball with speed and accuracy, which Wilkinson finished off with style.

This had been a cracking team performance. Solid, well organised defence, solid tackles, good, quick, direct attacking rugby from the backs and a fine performance from all the forwards. Communication levels were high and we didn’t over commit at the ruck.

Hats off to Thatcham whose attitude throughout was spot on. Thanks to the ref who did a great job and to the large contingent of supporters from both sides; great to see.

Quotes of the day;
Thatcham skipper after the match; “Why aren’t you boys top 3 in the league? That was undoubtedly the best performance against us this season”

Congratulations to;
Graham Oakley who picked up the Coaches Player of the season award.
Alex Leicester who picked up the Players Player of the season award.

The whole squad who finish the season in a creditable 6th place in BBO League 1, a marked improvement on last season.