Atkins sponsored Tadley 1st XV welcomed Ivel Barbarians to Red Lane for what would turn out to be an epic battle in the Southern Counties South league.

Tadley having had a break since their encounter against Oldfield Old Boys two weeks ago were keen to transfer some the form that they had been showing away from home to games at Red Lane.

Ivel having only recorded one victory in this seasons campaign were clear underdogs but Tadley were under no illusions that this would be a tough fixture.

Tadley’s starting line up was relatively unchanged following the victory over Oldfield Old Boys with the exception of Gordon Grierson having been admitted to the Priory Clinic was unavailable.

Tadley kicked off the encounter and started what would turn out to be one of the closest fought matches of the season. The home team started well and dominated the majority of the territory however Ivel showed that they were more than capable of defending effectively and scummaging hard. Tadley converted this early pressure into points through the boot of Chris Dennison. But through some unusual pressure on the Tadley ball in the scrum Ivel were able to maintain possession and gain the enough territory to level the scores at 3 – 3 through a penalty.

It was now clear that Ivel had come into this game determined to push the home team to end. The teams appeared very closely matched in every aspect of the game. Some very strong running from centre andy Williams allowed Tadley to retained possession and gain some hard yards and pin Ivel in their own 22. Their clearing kick was gathered heroically by winger Gareth Cripps winning a penalty. Cripps had the awareness to see that the defence was disorganised and tapped and went passing to Thomas Bailey who ran from the 10 metre line to score under the posts.

Ivel responded positively and capitalised on the home teams indiscipline around the break down and kicked for the corner. They secured the lineout and drove and then released their back line who made the most of some poor communication in the Tadley defence to score under the posts.

They added further pressure by an enormous drop goal from near the half way line to give them the edge Chris Dennison showed great composure to slot a further penalty prior to half time and the two sides were barley separable with the score 10-11 in favour of the away team.

The second half continued in a very similar vein to the first with both side remaining evenly matched. Duncan Harris providing excellent ball at the centre of the line out and solid defence by the back line led by Ed Smith and Chris Dennison allowed Tadley to remain composed throughout some concerted pressure.

Chris Dennison provided the difference between the sides slotting two further penalties after the break and Ivel were only able to match it with one taking the score to 16 – 14 in favour of Tadley. With over six minutes left to play Tadley remained composed and patient but remained positive in defence keeping Ivel far enough away from their posts. The final play of the game was a drop goal attempt by Ivel that went wide. Final score 16 – 14 and Tadley breathed a sigh of relief following this nail bitter.

There were several performances worthy of mention but Darren Staley appears to be settling into the number eight position with another strong performance. Gareth Cripps contributed fantastically in defence but Chris Dennison showed a cool head and a well deserved man of the match.