First half show just enough for Havant

Another packed Lane saw Havant take on an inform Bracknell in round 10 of Regional 1 South -Central. The crowd numbers were swelled by a well-attended mini & junior lunch.
Will Knight again picked a strong side with the return of Ben Chambers after his exploits with the UKAF. Ben Holt received a warm welcome onto the pitch for his 50th game.
Havant came flying out of the gates to start the game and had Bracknell pinned for the opening minutes, Ben Chambers making no mistake out wide for the opening try. Bracknell did gain some composure and replied with a penalty with ten minutes gone.
The turning point in the first half was a yellow card for Bracknell, Havant dominant at the set piece and piled on the pressure. Sean Shepherd scored a trademark rolling maul try and Ben Chambers added a 2nd. Havant led 19-3 with just over twenty minutes gone. Another yellow for Bracknell saw Sean Shepherd take advantage increasing the lead further towards half time. Havant were rampant next up Ben Chambers was on for a hat trick he won the foot race, the ball bounced up nicely, but he was adjudged to have a foot behind the line, much to the crowd’s annoyance!
Just before the whistle Bracknell opened their try account with a well worked move.

Half-time Havant 26 Bracknell 8

The second period started like the first with Havant clearly in charge, Reuben Knight worked his magic to find a gap and Havant led 33-8. The pressure kept ramping up with Havant inside the Bracknell 22 for the opening fifteen minutes, but good defending and poor judgement kept the score the same.
The tide changed for Havant due to ill disciplined, losing Harrison Young and Cam Smith. This gave Bracknell the incentive to attack the space, Havant’s scrambling defence could not keep them out and Bracknell were back on the scoresheet.
With their tails up Bracknell sensed a possible bonus point maybe even a win? Scoring two late tries bringing the score to 33-25 they fell short of the win to the relief of the faithful but got a deserved point for their efforts. As for Havant another bonus point win, but with a report card of “must close out games better when on top”.

Full-time Havant 33 Bracknell 25

Head-coach Will Knight's thoughts after the game.
"Well played Bracknell to come back in the 2nd half and claim a try bonus point showed what a good side they are. We were very pleased with our first half. We were very clinical and looked really dangerous. The 2nd half started well, and we got the fifth try but then started to get on the wrong side of the referee. The players from both sides were getting frustrated and that led to a fractured game. We lost two players to the bin so were down to 13 at one point. We will review the footage and see what we need to adjust but we need to be better at finishing off teams when we are dominant. Having said that it was a fine win and another 5 points."