Sat 19 Oct 2019, 15:00
Brackley came away from a difficult game away to Wellingborough O.G's with all 5 points after a close 23-19 victory.
From the offset the Brackley forwards showed their clear dominance in close quarters and in particular the scrum, which was superior all day. After some good early pressure from the visitors, centre Dan Rolfe was able to bust through a tackle in the midfield to open the scoring. This was soon followed by a Dan Gray penalty to extend the lead to 8-0.
Wellingborough came back firing with some powerful runs breaking through the Brackley defence, before exploiting the blind side to score in the corner. This was immediately followed by a second try for the hosts as their centre barrelled his way past several Brackley defenders to score under the posts, injuring himself in the process. Then with not long left before the break, the away team added a second as Dan Kimber crashed over to make it 13-12 at half time.
The second half started much like the first with Brackley having control of territory and possession, thanks mainly to their dominant pack. After some strong Brackley pressure, the backs and forwards linked up well to set up Matt Lowe in the left hand corner. This was shortly followed by an excellent second try from Rolfe who thanks to a clever backs move, saw him break through and show good pace to run away from the Wellingborough defenders and make it 23-12.
The visitors continued to pile on the pressure but couldn't quite manage to cross the whitewash despite getting close several times. Then with 10 minutes to go Wellingborough earned a penalty in the Brackley 22 and used their powerful runners to crash over and get themselves within four points of the visitors. It was a tight last 10 minutes but Brackley did enough in the end to come away with the bonus point victory.
This was a great victory for Brackley getting the bonus point win away from home against an always difficult opponent. Next up for Brackley will be Aylestone St James who have had a difficult start to the season but will no doubt be a physical challenge.
