Conor Corrigan ensured an exciting open to the game, scoring in the left corner with only 3 minutes on the clock. This marked his first appearance this season, returning to Rams after injury. Chandler converted Corrigan’s try to give the Reading side an early lead.

The first fifteen minutes were owned by Rams. Barnes did well to fight off close calls from Hoy, Sanders and Chandler. After a few narrowly-missed opportunities on their try line, the away side conceded a further 3 points to Chandler’s penalty.
After the reset Barnes came back with a try of their own. Uncertain post-lineout play from Rams provided the away side’s hooker, Ed Alterac, with a keen-eyed intercept and Barnes’ first points on the board.

The home side anticipated each scrum, easily gaining ground whenever the two packs faced off. After one such example of the Redingensians ram-raid, Rossiter comes within inches of scoring on the blind side.

Lineouts were similar, with Hoy eager to intercept any Barnes’ ball coming his way. The Rams pack were on fine form and it wasn’t uncommon to see driving mauls making metres of the pitch at the instruction of captain Robbie Stapley.

In attack, Barnes excelled at fast movement to the backs. Keen to take advantage of any overlap in Rams’ defence, the away side enforced their reputation as a dangerous side on the wings. Full back O’Toole saw his opportunity and scored in the left corner for Barnes. After converting his own try, the away side took the lead at 10-12 and kept it for the half time whistle.

Rams restarted with a renewed vigour. Although the first 10 minutes were played with Hopkins relegated the sin bin, this didn’t stop the home side from stationing possession well into Barnes’ half.

Three consecutive penalties, all scored by Chandler, put Rams back on top of the scoreboard. The team ensured that they stayed there with blistering runs from Guttridge, Rossiter and Bryant and ruthless attacking rallies coming from Henderson, Vooght, Stapley and Bryson.

Corrigan got his second try of the game with a stunning, single-handed sprint through centre-field. After Barnes fumbled to tackle him he buried the ball on their tryline with the help of some touch-and-go, kick-and-hope play. Chandler converted for a comfortable lead.

Barnes kept a consistent high level of opposition right up to the final whistle. Although at some points possession was reduced to an unsteady back-and-forth, Rams dominated the second half without conceding a single point.

Jak Rossiter scored on the final whistle to round out the game. Chandler hit the conversion, putting his personal point tally at 18 and establishing a cool 100% kick success rate. Rams close the match with a final score of 33-12.

Next week Rams journey up to Suffolk to face off against Bury St Edmunds, who sit only 1 point behind us on the National League 2 South table.

Report by Matt McCrory
Photo by Paul Clark

Team Sheet: (15-9, 1-8):

15 - S. Guttridge
14 - Rossiter
13 - Bryant
12 - Sanders
11 - Corrigan
10 - Chandler
9 - U'Chong
1 - Steadman
2 - Henderson
3 - McDonnell-Roberts
4 - Hoy
5 - Bryson
6 - Hopkins
7 - Vooght
8 - Stapley (c)

Replacements:
16 - Crame
17 - Weller
18 - Taylor
19 - Barnes
20 - Illingworth