Bracknell 23 Wharfedale 17

FOR the second time in sad succession, away success eluded Wharfedale at Bracknell, as they made a bright start but allowed determined opposition to dictate the momentum up front and eventually ceded the game.

But whereas on the opening Saturday at Roehampton they rather yielded victory, at Lily Hill Park they were overhauled by a tenacious Bracknell side which fought back from the brink of a humiliating defeat. They ultimately deserved victory despite a furious Green assault which had them under siege for the final pulsating ten minutes of a hotly contested match.

Indeed, the home side's jubilant relief at the final whistle clearly indicated the significance to them of their hard-earned victory, the price they put on Wharfedale's scalp and their pride in re-establishing their 'Fortress Bracknell' mentality. It will take a brave and determined quality side to win there this term.

And yet the rich promise of the Greens' domination of the opening quarter presaged a totally different encounter. In a display of powerful, pacy and precise rugby, Wharfedale all-but over-ran their opponents. With David Pears' fast and fluent distribution of abundant cleanly-recycled possession, Wharfedale stretched the home defence to tatters to produce two clinical early scores.

First, a sweeping overlap saw David Whitfield delivering a perfectly timed scoring pass for name-sake Ben to score and then a blind-side break ended in Pears bursting through to touch down. Two conversions of ominous authority by Pears gave the visitors a 14-0 lead after 12 minutes.

But without quite subduing the Wharfedale pack, Bracknell clawed their way back into contention and on a rare visit to the visitors' territory, they were awarded a penalty try when Ben Whitfield was adjudged to have deliberately knocked on as the home side pressed for a score. Hoggart converted and then exchanged penalties with Pears to leave Wharfedale 17-10 ahead at the interval.

After the break, however, it was a different story. Possession dried up for Wharfedale, the pattern of the contest switched as the fire-up Bracknell pack drove down the middle of the field and the halves pressed home their scrum advantage.

The home side not only checked the Green's superiority, but also imposed a pattern of their own on the game. Clever variation of pick-up and drive by the back-row and some superb box kicking by scrum-half Shaw now controlled the game.

It took only seven minutes for a dynamic 15-yard drive from a lineout to shunt 18-stone prop Jim Kelly over, Hoggart converting to level the scores. Wharfedale were now the side defending grimly and insecurely. Pressured into mistakes, they conceded penalty chances which initially Hoggart miscued, but he finally found his range two add two successful kicks which proved decisive.

In the final pulsating minutes, however, Wharfedale rediscovered their energy and drive as a revitalised side started to challenge once again for the crucial score. Bracknell were reduced to desperate, frantic defence as Wharfedale applied intense pressure, but though Paul Evans was adjudged to have been rolled in the tackle over the line, Pears was held up under the posts and Neil Heseltine was halted on the corner flag, the Dalesmen could not find the try they needed.

So, despite the Greens making the early running, Bracknell emerged with the spoils that their superior fighting spirit deserved. It represented a disappointing setback for Wharfedale, for this was a contest they needed to win. For all the free-flowing scoring they produced, to concede 20 points away from home is a slightly worrying and, hopefully, temporary trend.

A match they could and should - given their early platform - have won was wrenched from their grasp. There are other sides in the league capable of exploiting the brittle front-row scrummaging, fallible back-row play and a lack of certainty under the wide, high ball exposed by Bracknell