RAMS 49-40 ROSSLYN PARK
12/04/25
The 1st XV fell just short of completing a late comeback in Reading as Rams edged out a 13-try thriller.
The hosts began on the front foot as several early penalties in their favour kept them camped in Park territory, with a well-won Ali Wade turnover penalty providing the only fleeting respite across the first seven minutes. Eventually, the pressure told, and James McRae finally crossed over to open the scoring. The next 10 minutes saw a swing in momentum, and it was the 1stXV’s turn to establish some territory and possession. First, Henry Spencer powered his way over the try line following a scrum deep in the Rams 22 only to be narrowly held up. Then, minutes after the restart, Max Trimble and Tom Stanton combined beautifully to slice through the defence for what looked to be a certain try if not for a last second spillage. Eventually, a Ewan Fenley snipe and offload to Matt Woodward saw the tighthead rumble over the line to open Park’s account.
After a tight penalty call against what looked to be a clean turnover by Harry Ledger in midfield, Rams set up shop in the Park 22 and crossed over out wide through Tomek Pozniak, then extended their lead minutes later through second row Dan Swain. The 1st XV responded immediately to Swain’s try, however, and some excellent hands by Josh Bragman and Trimble sent Fenley away down the right-hand side.
In the second half, it was the hosts again who started quickest, and another James McRae score re-established the two-try Rams lead, but it did not last for long as this was soon followed by a wonderful score by Charlie Walker in which he reeled in a kick and sold the last man with a phenomenal dummy. Unfortunately, the momentum was wrestled away from the 1stXV when a controversial yellow card was handed out to Tom Stanton after the ball was knocked on in the tackle and deemed to have been intentional by the referee.
The man-advantage soon led to McRae touching down for his hat-trick try for Rams, but a powerful Jasper Cameron carry just a minute later reduced the lead back to 7-points. In the final quarter, as the tension began to build with the 1st XV now chasing an equaliser, a manic two minutes unfolded. First, a Rams hand shot out during a Park attack in midfield and looked to have knocked it forwards, but this wasn’t spotted by the ref and Swain scooped up the ball amidst protestations from the Park players to run it in under the posts. This was quickly followed by a yellow card for Jack Digby for a high-tackle in a decision that could have gone either way.
Despite all of this, the 1st XV rallied to score two quick tries in the final 10 minutes to reduce the Rams lead to just two points. A Charlie Mulchrone tap-and-go which led to a Bragman try was soon followed by another fantastic Walker score as the full-back streaked away down the left wing. However, despite the titanic effort, Rams eventually capitalised on the numbers advantage — just seconds before the end of the yellow card — with a try in the final few minutes through Mikey Duda to deny the comeback.
By RHYS STRATTON
ROSSLYN PARK
Tries; Woodward (16’), Fenley (32’), Walker (49’, 72’), Cameron (59’), Bragman (70’)
Conversions; Bragman (17’, 33’, 50’, 60’, 71’)
Penalties; N/A
Yellow Cards: Stanton (54’), Digby (67’)
Team: Wade, Miller, Woodward, Spencer, Cleet, Laventure, Ledger, Digby, Fenley, Bragman, Marfo, Cordy-Redden, Stanton, Trimble, Walker
Replacements: Cameron, Hay, Gillanders, Mulchrone, James
RAMS
Tries; McRae (6’, 41’, 57’), Pozniak (22’), Swain (29’, 65’), Duda (75’)
Conversions; Honey (7’, 23’, 30’, 42’, 58’, 66’, 76’)
Penalties; N/A
Yellow Cards; N/A
Team: Emanuel, Spandler, Lomas, R. Stapley, Swain, Hayman, Duda, McRae, Hodgson, Honey, Pozniak, Pannese, Rhoads, Rampton, Clow
Replacements: Bishop, Harris, Atkins, C. Stapley, Lamb
AROUND THE LEAGUE
Birmingham Moseley 33 –35 Sale FC
Bishop’s Stortford 61 – 24 Dings Crusaders
Leicester Lions 31 – 26 Blackheath
Plymouth Albion 59 – 0 Esher
Rotherham Titans 40 – 38 Richmond
Sedgley Park 63 – 24 Darlington Mowden Park
This week in National One saw Richmond pick up two losing bonus points in their loss away to Rotherham which is enough to see them wrap up the title and secure promotion back to the Championship. Elsewhere, Stortford and Plymouth thumped Dings and Esher respectively while Leicester also overcame Blackheath at home. Finally, Sale edged out a tight contest in Birmingham as they saw off the challenge of Moseley to leapfrog them in the standings.
Up Next for Park is our final match of the season against Rotherham at The Rock in the race for 2nd