Sat 14 Sep 2019, 15:00
It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Brackley with the 1st XV losing a close home game to Northampton Mens Own, whilst the Development team won 22-7.
With both teams finishing in the top 4 last year, the opening game of the season was always going to be a close matchup at Brackley. Despite having the slight edge in territory and possession it was Mens Own who opened scoring, when a backs move on their own 22 released the right winger and after some good covering defence, the Mens Own fly half managed to step his way through and over the try line to make it 7-0.
The home side were quick to reply, when centre Tyrone Smith found a gap and scored near the posts to even the game up. Brackley continued to keep the pressure on and eventually forced Mens Own into a mistake when a clearing kick on their own try line was charged down, with flanker Niall Morrow diving on the ball to give Brackley a 14-7 lead at half time.
Brackley continued to dominate possession and territory but couldn’t find a way to break through the visitors’ strong defence. With 20 minutes to go, things started to get close when a Mens Own counterattack found them in the half and the home side gave away a penalty, which was converted to make it 14-10.
With the momentum now in favour of the visitors, they started to put pressure on the Brackley defence eventually using a strong maul to crash over. Then five minutes later, Mens Own increased their lead as their centre found a gap in the Brackley midfield and dived over the line, underneath the posts. Unfortunately the hosts couldn’t find any reply, eventually losing 24-14.
The Development team had a much better day at the office as they ran out 22-7 winners away to Mens Own 2nd XV. With a good mix of youth and experience, including several debutants, the visitors showed how strong the Brackley squad is this season. The try scorers for Brackley included debuting winger Craig Harris.
Next week attention turns to the first round of the Junior Vase as Brackley have an away tie against Claverdon, who are based near Warwick.
