Sat 15 Dec 2018
Brackley returned to winning ways on Saturday as they dispatched Stamford College Old Boys 39-3 in the cold.
Despite the freezing cold, wet weather that greeted both teams, Brackley showed great ambition from the off, with a much improved quick start to the game. Showing excellent handling skills and determined running, the hosts were quickly in the Stamford 22 and took advantage straightaway with full back Seb Johnson crashing over in the first few minutes.
Brackley continued this pressure throughout the match looking to run the ball from all areas, however Stamford showed good scramble defence to keep them at bay. Eventually though the pressure told as scrum half Andy Mawle snuck over from close range with the try converted by Johnson to make it 12-0.
Things didn’t get any better for the visitors who had made the long journey with only 15 players and by half time had lost three players due to injury. However they did show excellent resilience to keep the score at only 15-0 at the break after Johnson had added a penalty in front of the posts.
With the opposition down three players and the coaches having agreed to shorten the game to 60 minutes due to the injuries, Brackley smelt blood and went hunting for the bonus point. Throughout the second half it was one-way traffic as the hosts tried to put it through the hands as much as possible but may have been guilty of trying too much at times.
By the time the final whistle went Brackley had scored four more tries with Johnson scoring a hat trick as well as centre Michael Houpe and second row Russell Newman (who showed surprising pace from far out) getting on the scoresheet as well. Credit to Stamford who stuck at it in tough conditions and got on the scoreboard themselves through a long range penalty with the game finishing 39-3 to the hosts.
This victory is just what Brackley needed after a tough run of games in the league. Brackley will see out 2018 in a midweek game on Wednesday night as they host local rivals Buckingham in the Lewis Shield under the lights.
