The Lily Hill men kept their faint National Three South West promotion hopes alive with a 27–5 win against Old Redcliffians on Saturday, but they will almost certainly be over if they lose at the second-placed Devon side this weekend.

Bracknell sit 10 points below Exmouth in the table, but go into the contest on the back of a three-match winning run – including their stunning 22–13 victory against leaders Redingensians earlier this month.

And Greenslade-Jones is optimistic his side can get the result they need, telling the News: “Hopefully we can go down to Exmouth and get a result. On the back of having a great win against Redingensians and another against Old Reds, that’s three on the bounce. We go down there with a bit of confidence.

“If we can get some continuity and multi-phase rugby going then hopefully the space will come and we can score the tries out wide.” He revealed the squad is likely to travel to Exmouth on Friday to ensure their preparation is perfect, as they aim to gain a vital win and a measure of revenge for their thrilling 37–31 defeat at Lily Hill Park back in October.

He commented: “Everything they did in that first game stuck and we thought they were a really good team. They had the luck on the day and we didn’t. But to us we were the better team and if the game had gone another five minutes we would have snuck it.

“It’s going to be a tough battle. We’ve got to be focused and of the same mindset like we were against Redingensians and do the right things at the right time.

“We cannot force the game. We need to play in the correct areas and keep hold of the ball.” If Bracknell can secure a bonus point win in Devon, they could cut the gap on Exmouth to five points with eight more games remaining.

And their head coach has not given hope of sealing second spot.

He said: “It’s out of our hands but potentially they could still lose a few games. Never say never, but it’s up to them. The ball’s in Exmouth’s court and they are an experienced side with a good squad, but fingers crossed.” However, he also admitted the four games Bracknell have lost by seven points or less this season may ultimately prove costly.

“There are 14 to 16 more points we could have gained, and that would have put us right up the top with Exmouth. Unfortunately it wasn’t to be,” added Greenslade-Jones. “Last year we won a lot of those games, we snuck them at the end, but this year we’ve fallen the wrong side of those results.

“Losing to Hornets (18–22) away was massive and Old Patesians (24–27) was another one. But as long as we learn and improve we’ll be better off for it.”