Published: Tuesday, 9th March, 2010 2:00pm

Radford praises defeated Colts

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Man of the match Luke Richardson Evans

BRACKNELL Colts head coach Martin Radford had nothing but praise for his side this week after their OBB title-hunt controversially ended in disappoinment.

The Lily Hill Park outfit would have been crowned champions had they beaten Newbury on Sunday.

However they were given a mountain to climb when scrum half Cameron Boret was given a disputed red card after only 33 minutes. And, playing for over half the game with just 14 men, they eventually went down to an agonizing 10-8 defeat.

This loss put an end to Bracknell's title chances for this season. But Radford believes his players should finish the campaign with their heads held high.

He said: "They are a great bunch and deserved to win this league.

"The boys were outstanding in the second half. I was proud to watch them.

"They did everything I asked of them except slot those penalties, and they only fell-off slightly in the final 10 minutes due to fatigue at playing with one man down.

"They are a joy to work with and will be even better players as a result of the lessons learnt."

The match had started so well for Bracknell with Chris Laidler slotting a long-range penalty after two minutes to give them a 3-0 lead.

Newbury showed that they would not simply sit back and allow Bracknell an easy romp to the title when number eight Jamie Guttridge set up Josh Love to score the opening try to put them 5-3 in front.

Then came the pivotal moment in the game. Boret was one of three Bracknell players to close down visiting fullback Jamie Futcher 10 metres from the Newbury line.

And when the referee blew his whistle the hosts thought they had been awarded a penalty for holding on. However, the referee adjudged that Boret's boot had made deliberate contact with Futcher's head and to the amazement of the home support dished out a straight red card.

Despite this Bracknell fought back into the lead with a Ben Blosse try before Laidler missed two penalties to extend their lead.

They lived to rue this when Love's second try with seven minutes to go put Newbury back in front. And when a last minute kick from Blosse sailed past the post the Colts knew the game was up.