Bracknell RFC beat Exmouth in first game after Jamie Turner's departure

The former director of rugby left the club last week following a disappointing start to the season which had seen them sitting in the bottom three, but on a foul afternoon weather-wise, the Lily Hill men showed tremendous resolve to grind out only their second win in seven games.

With the heavy rain making fluid play tricky, along with both sides defending well, the opening half-hour was scoreless before Bracknell took the initiative when Kieran Forbes found space and popped the ball inside for Ian Burch to sprint clear for the opening try.

George Owen's conversion made it 7-0 at the interval.

Remarkably the weather got even worse as the day went on, and a second try with a little more than 10 minutes pretty much made the game safe. Owen broke off a maul before finding Ben Yates, and he touched down to make it 12-0.

Exmouth had the better of the final stages, pinning the hosts deep in their own half, but despite Harry Challenor's sin-binning, Bracknell's defence held firm to seal a morale-boosting success.

Reflecting on Turner's departure and the Exmouth result, Bracknell chairman of rugby, Martin Radford, said: “After a difficult week at the club, we pressed the reset button and won a game in conditions which suited the opposition.

"This was a real statement of intent from the team, which was focused on 100 per cent commitment in defence and a real emphasis on attacking with variety. I was really pleased with the performance in difficult circumstances.”

Bracknell climb to 10th following the win, but are still only three points clear of basement side Newbury Blues.

The Lily Hill men have a week off before visiting Ivybridge on Saturday, November 9.