Oakmeadians RFC twice gave away the lead as they were beaten by Reading Abbey in a thrilling clash at Meyrick Park.
Oaks moved the ball well through the backs early on and twice came close to scoring, with strong running from centres Michael Notobartolo and Oliver Hare. However they were both let down by handling errors close to the try line.
The game came to life towards the end of the first half. With Oakmeadians cruising at five points ahead following a try from Jamie Mitchell, the two teams exchanged a flurry of penalty goals. The home side’s lead was restored until, on the stroke of half-time, Abbey winger Gavin Dampies broke away and powered over the try line. Abbey full-back Drake coolly put away the conversion to give Reading Abbey the lead.
Oakmeadians came out fighting in the second half and within ten minutes had the lead again after a penalty goal and a well-worked move that ended with Ryan Davis taking the ball over.
The final twist in a nip-and-tuck encounter came mid-way through the half when Oakmeadians winger Will Samuels made a suicidal pass to full-back Jeremy Cook on the try line. Reading’s Gavin Dampies smartly intercepted the loose ball to snatch back the lead. From here the home side never recovered and Reading Abbey, sensing the kill, twice more broke clear of the Oak’s defence to score.
Steve Drake capped a near flawless kicking performance by running over and converting the final try. The only blot on his record was a tricky conversion attempt put narrowly wide from the touch line.
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