Bracknell 19 – 38 Wimbledon

Wimbledon notched up their third consecutive win on Saturday against a fiercely
competitive Bracknell, who breached their visitors’ unusually porous defence three
times in the first half, creating good tries for backs Birch, Higgins and Mercer, two
converted by no.8 Valentine.

But despite Bracknell’s 19 points and their wealth of possession – courtesy of endless
penalties against Wimbledon, good control at the breakdown and a highly effective
lineout – Wimbledon still led by two points at the interval, adding a further 19
unanswered points in the second half to win convincingly by 38 to 19.

It was a full ten minutes after kick-off before Wimbledon got possession of the ball,
by which time they were 7-0 down. Then a great drive by the pack, quick ball by
scrum half Rhys Morgan and centre Aaron Lowe burst through to score under the
posts; Neil Hallett’s conversion was a formality. On the half hour, having conceded
another converted try, fly-half Bryan Croke celebrated his return from injury by
scoring Dons’ second try in a move involving wing Alex Cane and flanker Gary
Crowe, who had an excellent all-round game.

Hallett’s conversion levelled the scores,
before he himself scored Dons’ third, finishing a lovely move started by a typical
Croke chip over the defence and going quickly through the hands of Crowe, Kane,
Lowe, Noah Jarvis, and Croke again. Hallett converted with a fine kick from the
touchline. A couple of missed tackles disappointingly let Bracknell back in with their
third try just before half time.

Playing down the slope in the second half Wimbledon continued to upset the referee
regularly, giving hard-won ball back to Bracknell. Fortunately though, their defence
reverted to its normal watertight self. But limited possession didn’t stop wing Tommy
Moore from scoring Dons’ fourth try 15 minutes in, after some fine pick and drive
work by the forwards.

Moore was over again five minutes later, intercepting and sprinting in from half way,
and Hallett’s conversion stretched the lead to 19-33. Just before the final whistle and
after a prolonged Bracknell attack, Moore intercepted again, this time in his 22, and
so nearly got his hat-trick, but was hauled down a yard short. Good support though
won quick ruck ball which was shipped acrossfield and Kane dived in for Dons’ sixth
try.

Not a vintage Wimbledon performance, but convincing enough in the end. Next week
they will ant to make it four wins on the trot when they play at home against
Westcliff. A repeat of the 50-pointer at Westcliff’s ground would suffice.