Brackley RUFC

Brackley took the trip to Bedford Swifts on Saturday and after 80 minutes of action, neither side could be separated as they fought to a 13-all draw.

Bedford has always been one of the toughest away games each season and this time was no different. The hosts started out on top as Brackley quickly found themselves on the wrong side of the referee allowing Swifts to control the game and take an early three-point lead through a penalty. The hosts continued to keep the pressure on and soon after followed up with a try after finding a gap in the Brackley midfield to make it 8-0.

This try seemed to wake the visitors up who started working themselves back into the game and winning the territory battle. As the Brackley pressure continued throughout the first half, Bedford were the ones who were starting to give away penalties which the visitors took advantage off with fly half Mike Lowdell kicking over two penalties to make it 8-6. Both sides were showing strong defence as the half time whistle blew with only two points between the teams.

Brackley started the second half on top piling the pressure on the hosts, however couldn’t find that finishing touch to cross the whitewash. Bedford were showing impressive defence and were trying to clear their lines at any given opportunity, then a turnover inside the Brackley half put the hosts on the front foot and a clever kick through by the full back saw their left winger win the race to the ball and make it 13-6.

Now starting to reach desperation mode, the visitors were struggling to find that all important try. However they were given a lifeline when Bedford lost a man to the sin bin for a high tackle. Five minutes later an errant Swifts pass on the halfway line was intercepted by hooker Mikey Clark and he pinned his ears back to run the try in under the posts which was converted to make it 13-13 with less than 10 minutes to go.

Despite having the momentum behind them and a man advantage, Brackley started to make it hard for themselves, giving away penalties which brought Swifts into the visitors' 22. Brackley showed resolute goal line defence to get a valuable turnover and then started to work their way up the pitch, seemingly making ground with every run. With the visitors now in the Bedford half and both sides knowing the 80 minutes was pretty much up, desperation was coming in which led to a failed intercept attempt by a Swifts player and despite the visitors’ calls for a penalty the final whistle went.

Both sides come away with a share of the points, which moves Brackley up to second in the league as Sileby had a bye week, however the two teams will feel this was a win that slipped away from them. Next week Brackley face a very tough match as they host Northampton Old Scouts in the Lewis Shield and there should be a big crowd with the Six Nations Lunch also taking place during the day.