The Rhinos overcame a lack lustre first half performance to secure a second consecutive draw, but suffered more injury woes on the way. Broadmoor Academy, who by the way beat Reading III 22-12 back in November, are to join the Thames Valley Invitation League in Division C next season, and based on this performance they could well win promotion at their first attempt.
The home side took the lead inside three minutes when, after concerted pressure, a gap appeared on the Rhinos’ left flank, and the Broadmoor right wing took his chance to score in the corner. When the lead was extended to twelve points just four minutes later, things began to look bleak for the visitors. From a scrum 25 metres out, the fly half ran blind and broke through three tackles, before feeding his full back for the first of his three tries. Although Justin Wheeler got the Rhinos on the board after eighteen minutes with a penalty, this was to be a temporary respite, as the home side’s full back was again fed by his fly half and he sped through the defence to score under the posts.
The combination of a stern team talk from Captain Sharp, and youthful over exuberance from the home team’s No. 10, saw the Rhinos haul themselves back into the match. The fly half trying to find his outside centre, miscalculated his pass, and flanker Marc McAdden was on hand to scoop the ball up and run 30 metres to the right hand corner for a score, which was superbly converted by Wheeler.
However, the half time deficit of 24-10, widened within a minute of the restart, as the Rhinos lost a scrum on their own put in, and the lethal combination of fly half and full back joined forces yet again, with the latter running three quarters of the length of the field for his hat-trick.
It took a piece of pure genius to get Reading back in the game and the magic was provided by big Dave Swan, who flicked up a loose ball with his boot, and his pass to substitute Jofi Alexander saw the winger sprinting over from 25 metres. With Wheeler again adding the extras from wide out, suddenly there was only one score between the sides.
As the home side began to flag, the Rhinos sensed that they could get something out if the game, and this time Alexander turned provider, as he timed his pop pass to fellow substitute Andy Silvey to perfection, and the full back cut a great angle to score under the sticks, from where Wheeler could not miss.
All square, and the Rhinos pressed on in search of a winning score, and had the match official been more eagle eyed it could have come. However, he failed to notice the home fly half deliberately throwing the ball off the field, and instead of awarding a penalty, he decided enough time had been played and blew his whistle.
Despite the comeback, the draw was just about deserved, but there was plenty to concern the captain. Not least the first half performance, and in particular the poor levels of tackling throughout the side. Also worrying will be the injuries suffered by Nigel Goodwin (ankle) Duncan Colley and Alex Cooper (both back), to add to those currently unavailable (Danny Pratt, Julian Edwards, Scott Stevens, Neil Hallett and Vice Captain Diego Barrow).
Team
Andy Clark
Alex Cooper
Steve King
George Troughton
Nigel Goodwin
Duncan Colley
Marc McAdden
Colin Sharp
Gareth Belshaw
Mark Lilley
Simon Waterer
Dave Swan
Wayne Palmer
John Von Beneki
Justin Wheeler
Dave Osborne (Goodwin 25 minutes)
Jofi Alexander (Cooper 29 minutes)
Andy Silvey (Colley Half Time)
Captain’s Views
After yet another very poor start we managed to salvage a draw. It was an odd game which only came to life well into the 2nd half, when we started to control the game and they panicked. Had the game gone on a bit longer I’m sure we could have nicked it. However, I feel the draw was a fair result. Well done to Jofi (Alexander), who scored his first try for the Rhinos, while both Andy Silvey and Mark McAdden both took their tries well, and once again Justin’s boot got us out of jail. Thanks also to Ali, who bollocked us sufficiently at half time to make us turn the game around.
Thames Valley Invitation League – Division B
In this week’s only fixture, Oxford Harlequins returned from Windsor 20-7 victors, and they leapfrog over Bracknell into third place. Windsor were also involved in other matters this week, as Reading Abbey were awarded a home walkover against the Home Park side. This leaves the table looking like this:
| P | W | D | L | F | A | Diff | Pts | |
| Reading Rhinos | 9 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 196 | 41 | 155 | 26 |
| Reading Abbey III | 11 | 7 | 0 | 4 | 244 | 88 | 156 | 25 |
| Oxford Harlequins IV | 9 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 136 | 142 | -6 | 18 |
| Bracknell IV | 8 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 196 | 126 | 70 | 16 |
| Drifters II | 7 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 112 | 130 | -18 | 13 |
| Marlow IV | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 30 | 184 | -154 | 8 |
| Windsor IV | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 29 | 232 | -203 | 5 |
The big fixture this week sees Oxford Harlequins visiting second placed Reading Abbey, while Windsor hosts Marlow in a bottom of the table clash.
Reading meanwhile are scheduled to visit Basingstoke Vets for a friendly, but will also be without last season’s captain Andy Clark and fly half Mark Lilley who are both unavailable due to family commitments.