With Rams securing their bonus point by half time, both sides traded tries in the second half, but ultimately Rams had already done enough to secure a comfortable victory.

Rams head coach Seb Reynolds was delighted with the victory, following the disappointment of the reverse fixture, as he spoke after the game saying, “Albanians really did a number on us last time, but it wasn’t so much a matter of revenge today, but improving on what we’ve built so far in 2019. In hindsight this game couldn’t have come at a better time, coming off the back of a huge derby day victory, we had a point to prove against these guys, and I believe we proved that point.”

Reynolds was also quick to pay tribute to the Rams’ hooker after he reached a significant milestone, as he said, “special mention has to go to Ben Henderson for reaching 100 National 2 games for the club today. It just shows the commitment and loyalty we have among the players in the squad, and it’s a great achievement for him”

The Reading men begun as they had left off in the previous match, scoring their first try after just 9 minutes, and it was only a matter of time given how dominant the home side had been in the early exchanges of the scrum, as they drove powerfully to the line following a penalty scrum five yards out, with Crame placing the ball over the line.

The rest of the half passed by in similar fashion with Rams mercilessly scoring three more tries to earn them a bonus point before the break, the pick of these tries came as the game approached the 40 minute mark, Steadman found a gap and offloaded to Wolf who turned his opposite man to take the ball over the line.

The second half was a much more even affair, as the away side struck the first blow after 50 minutes, as they took a quick penalty in the Rams 22 and whipped it wide to Watt on the wing who ran the ball in comfortably.

This was followed by both sides trading tries in quick succession, with the former coming from Ben Henderson to make for a fitting reward on his 100th cap.

With the score at 31-14 it looked as if an unlikely comeback may be possible for the Old Albanians. However, this spark of hope was quickly extinguished as Guttridge scored for Rams following a penalty line out.

The away side made the last move, scoring in the final minute of the game through Hughes, but it proved to only be a consolation as the converted kick signaled the referees final whistle, as the men from Reading lengthened their winning streak.
It was good news for the Rams Titans (2nd XV) who also won at home on Saturday scoring 51 - 21 against Jersey 2nd XV.
Next Saturday 19th January Rams travel to Suffolk to play Bury St Edmunds.

Rams:
Tries: Crame 9, Illingworth 14, Vooght 26, Wolf 37, Henderson 56, Guttridge 69

Conversions: Seers 10, 15, 38

Old Albanians:

Tries: Chalcraft 51, Ricci 64, Hughes 80

Conversions: Watt 52, 65, 80

Half time: 26 - 0

Attendance: 463

Referee: Daniel Collins

Star man: Henderson (Rams)

Rams (15-9, then 1-8):

Duffelen, Rossiter, Jones, Humberstone A, Corrigan, Seers, Illingworth, Steadman, Henderson, Baker, Taylor, Guttridge, Wolf, Vooght, Crame

Replacements: Drew, McDonnell-Roberts, Nightingale, Humberstone T, Cole.