Basingstoke RFC have slipped into the relegation zone following their defeat away to derby rivals Bracknell.
The Down Grange side lie third from bottom, trailing one point behind Tring, but three ahead of North Walsham, who have a game in hand.
The loss is a disappointment for coach Junior Paramore, who saw his squad trump Bracknell 23-16 earlier in the season.
A poor first half performance meant that ’Stoke were unable to come back, leaving the score 23-16 by full time.
Basingstoke opened the scoring through scrum half Jamie Platt. A botched 22-yard drop out was kicked to touch gave ’Stoke a scrum.
Platt exploited a gap in the defence by going down the blindside and touched down. A missed conversion kept them at five points.
But the dream start was not the shape of things to come and Bracknell were able to dominate the game from the restart.
A string of missed tackles and squewed clearance kicks meant the visitors were always on the back foot.
After 14 minutes, the home side took the lead with a textbook converted try. Bracknell, having caught a poorly-placed kick, launched an attack and an overlap left the ’Stoke defence short.
The 7-5 lead was soon extended when a penalty was kicked to touch meters from the Basingstoke line.
Ill-discipline in the resulting lineout saw prop Neil Young sin-binned from a series of infringements.
A penalty kick to the ’Stoke corner meant the 14-man defence could not hold off the Bracknell attack.
A missed conversion kept visitors in touching distance and a penalty conversion by fly-half Ceri Cummings reduced the score to 12-8.
Two Bracknell penalties before half-time meant that ’Stoke went into the break trailing 8 -18.
And despite their best effort, ’Stoke could not get back into the game. A Cummings penalty 10 minutes after the break meant a converted try would put them in the lead. But a score from the home side halted the momentum.
’Stoke lost the ball on the half-way mark and Bracknell were able to collect and effectively end the game with an unconverted try.
In the last 15 minutes. ’Stoke managed to score another try.
Ashley Patterson kicked the ball forward, beating the Bracknell defence to it and bringing the scoreline 23-16.
With the visitors just a try short of a draw, they applied the pressure in a bid to secure some points, but were unable to capitalise.
Basingstoke RFC will take their fight to climb out of the relegation zone when they take on Tring at home on Saturday .
