Ruthless Buzzards put on a show at Brackley
Brackley 19 - 79 Leighton Buzzard
Leighton Buzzard’s high scoring winning start to the league continued in style with a tremendous display at Brackley. What made the performance spectacular was that, despite what the score suggests, Brackley were a good, well-organised and committed team who remained competitive to the end. However, Buzzards were ruthless in their execution, making the most of their opportunities.
Leighton kicked off in dry conditions. It took just two minutes for Buzzards to open the scoring, with James Brett touching down in the corner after a quickly taken tap penalty. His half-back partner, Ewan Starling, added a second try, after the Buzzard pack, which dominated the scrum all afternoon, drove the Brackley pack off their own ball. With James Brett converting the second of these tries, Buzzards led 12-0.
It didn’t take long for the home side to respond – four minutes after Buzzards second try and with fifteen minutes played, Brackley scored. Their strong, straight running and quick recycling providing the opportunity to score a well-worked try in the corner, cutting the Buzzard lead to 12-5.
In the last fifteen minutes of the half, Buzzards extra speed and ruthless taking of opportunities extended the lead significantly. Tom Maynard scored two tries, both from assists from Jacob Murtagh who was prominent in the lineout and also in loose play. In between these two tries, Jamie West scored in the corner following a clever blindside move. Directly from the re-start of the latest of these tries, George Rabbitt fielded the kick-off and showed great pace to outsprint the cover defence to score a spectacular individual try.
Despite these set-backs Brackley finished the half with a period of pressure in the Buzzard twenty-two. Helped by a string of penalties that brought a yellow card for Matt Bloxham, the home side ended the half with their second try to leave the score 38-10 at the break.
Buzzards started the second half with the finest team try of the game. Raef Braithwaite made the initial break from inside his half, linked with Ollie Taylor and then the ball was passed through many hands for Iestyn Hopkin to score in the corner. Shortly afterwards, Ewan Starling pounced on a loose ball and skillfully kicked through to add his second try. James Brett’s conversion brought Buzzards points total to 50.
Midway through the half, an Ollie Taylor jink and delayed pass made space for George Rabbitt to score his second try. Shortly after Brackley’s fly-half scored a fine individual try, making the score 55-19. Any thoughts of a home team revival were quickly ended as George Rabbitt and Tom Maynard, both added their third tries, the second of these following a break by Matt Bloxham. With one of these tries converted Leighton led 67-19.
Replacement Julian Gallie showed a fine turn of pace to add his name to the try-scorers and extend the lead to 72-19. Once again, Brackley, encouraged by their vociferous crowd, responded knowing that a fourth try would give them a bonus point. It says much about the Buzzard resolve that with the game long won, their defensive commitment was outstanding. Finally, the intense pressure on the Buzzard line was broken as Julian Gallie pounced on a loose ball, broke to halfway and passed to speedster Raef Braithwaite to add the final try. James Brett’s conversion made the final score 79-19.