BRACKNELL RFC ended their five match South West Premier winless run with a 19-14 Berkshire derby success at Newbury Blues on Saturday.

It was the home side who took the lead on the quarter-of-an-hour mark, Richard West knocking over a penalty following some early pressure from Blues.

However, it was the Lily Hill men who crossed the whitewash first to move in front, Jiute Tupua and Gabe Hills linking up to put wing Simon Bayliss in space for him to score under the Newbury posts. The conversion from Chris Laidler was successful and Bracknell led 7-3, an advantage they ultimately would not give up for the remainder of the afternoon.

The away side took further control when they added a second converted try, Tapua the man on this occasion following a superb individual burst which helped him break through the Newbury defence.

Things got even better for Bracknell shortly before the break as a Ben Sanderson pass found the hands of Bayliss, allowing the speedster to go in for his second of the game. Laidler was unable to add the extras, but the visitors had a 19-3 lead at the interval.

Two West penalties pulled Newbury back into the contest, and the pressure was ramped up on Bracknell even further when back row Josh Winfield crossed for the opening try for Blues. While the conversion was missed, the deficit now stood at just five points.

However, that was the last scoring play of the game as Bracknell held on for a vital victory, and indeed it was the visitors who came closest to securing a try bonus point, only for Ian Burch – playing at outside centre – to be bundled into touch having crossed the tryline.

Bracknell chairman of rugby, Martin Radford, was ecstatic with the result and said: “I’m delighted with the away win – we were the only side in the league to do that on Saturday. However, there are still areas of our game in which we need to improve and work on.”

The result means third-from-bottom Bracknell remain in the relegation zone on points difference only, both Newbury and Bracknell now with 30 league points.

Bracknell travel to Weston-super-Mare this Saturday (2.30pm).

  • EMBATTLED Crowthorne RFC return to BB&O Premier action when they host Wheatley on Saturday (2pm).

Crows currently sit bottom of the table on -14 points from 10 games, having been forced to concede four games including their previous two.