Brackley Development team battled bravely from behind with 14 men to snatch victory from Olney 2nd XV 31-28 in what was a thrilling contest on Saturday.
With the 1st XV having a week off, it gave the chance for players in the squad to get valuable game time with a good mix of colts, vets and players battling to earn themselves a 1st XV shirt. However Olney brought over a strong, organised squad with a good mix of players themselves, which was always going to lead to a close match, as was the case during the first 20 minutes with both teams struggling to get a stranglehold on the game.
The visitors were the first team on the scoreboard when they showed great ambition putting it through the hands deep in their own half, exploiting an overlap on the right wing, which allowed their electric full back to race away and beat the covering defence to score an excellent opening try under the posts. However Brackley came fighting back minutes later, when a mistake by the visitors in their own half saw the ball kicked through towards the try line, then the full back obviously not used to the large Brackley in-goals for some reason kicked the ball backwards, allowing young, debutant Henry Pearson to dive on the ball and score.
The arm wrestle between the sides continued but as the half went on Olney started to dominate more of the territory. Eventually the pressure told as the visitors were able to get quick ball and whip it wide to score on the wing. However the disappointment for the hosts was doubled when due to an altercation in the act of Olney scoring, Brackley number 8 Matt Stark was red carded. The visitors were quick to take advantage of their superior numbers, when their flanker scored a third try shortly after to make it 21-5 at half time, leaving Brackley with a mountain to climb.
However Brackley were not going to simply roll over for the visitors and started the second half on fire, dominating territory and possession. Despite showing some great defence, eventually the pressure from the hosts was rewarded when Phil Brinklow was able to slice through the Olney defence and score under the posts, converted by full back George Altham. Brackley followed this up quickly with their third try, when good hands from the backs saw Altham score in the corner to make it 21-17 and suddenly it was game on again!
With the game now down to four points, Olney seemed to discover their second wind and started to put pressure back on Brackley, finding themselves back in the hosts' 22. Despite only having 7 men, the Brackley forwards were dominating the visitors pushing them back in every scrum but Olney were doing well to keep hold of possession and a missed tackle in midfield allowed their 13 to crash over to make it 28-17.
This didn't dampen the hosts' spirit though as they started to regain control of the game, replying with a try in the corner from Paul Brinklow, which was well converted by Andy Mawle. Then straight from the kick off, Brackley put it through the hands and Phil Brinklow showed excellent speed to race away and score under the posts to put Brackley 31-28 up with 5 minutes to go. Despite the best efforts of Olney, the hosts were able to control possession enough to hold onto a deserved win.
This was a really well contested game between two well matched sides, with several players putting their hand up for a 1st XV shirt next week. The 1st XV return to league action next Saturday when they take on rivals Bedford Swifts in a game that is very important for their promotions hopes.
