It finished 29-21 to Rory Greenslade-Jones’ side as George Owen produced a masterclass to score 19 points and drive Bracknell to victory.

The game was delayed by 15 minutes due to heavy traffic on the M4 delaying the arrival of the visitors from south Devon.

And the Lily Hill outfit took full advantage of their opponents misfortune to catch them cold with an Owen inspired first-half display that saw them race into a 22-0 lead at the break.

It took just two minutes for Bracknell to take the lead through the boot of Owen, who kicked a penalty to give Bracknell a 3-0 lead.

Five minutes later and Owen danced away from a static Abbot defence to cross the line for a try, though he couldn’t convert the extras so it remained 8-0.

Bracknell were dominant and the backs looked dangerous every time they received the ball but Abbot were dangerous themselves and Will Castleton missed two penalties from the middle of the pitch after careless mistakes by the home side.

The home side were let off the hook and took full advantage to extend their lead through Pete Austin on his first start as a hooker.

Owen added the extras and he was called into action again shortly after when Barry Dwyer took a quick tap penalty five yards out to dive over the line.

The reliable Owen was once again on hand to kick the conversion and Bracknell went into the break 22-0 up.

Perhaps a sign of their lack of warm-up due to traffic issues, the visitors elected to stay out on the pitch at half-time and go through their paces a few more times.

It seemed to have done the trick instantly as they struck back seven minutes into the second-half when Abbot crossed the line and Castleton converted.

But Bracknell are made of stern stuff and they responded magnificently as Owen picked the ball up in midfield in the 57th minute and pulled off a superb chip and chase to touch down under the posts.

He converted the try to restore the 22-point lead and put Bracknell in complete control with just over 20 minutes remaining.

The score gave Bracknell their bonus point try and it looked like they were heading for a comfortable victory until the undoubted quality of the opposition shone through as they fought back to set up a grandstand finish.

Two converted tries in quick succession reduced the deficit to eight points with just minutes on the clock.

Bracknell saw the initial efforts out with ease to see the clock tick over and deny Abbot the chance of victory but a bonus point was still up for grabs for the visitors.

Abbot had plenty of the ball but they couldn’t find another score late on to grab the elusive bonus point and Greenslade-Jones’ side held on for an impressive victory against their promotion rivals.

Bracknell move above their opponents into fifth place in National League 3 South West.

The Lily Hill oufit travel to Old Patseians this Saturday (2pm).