FOR the second week running Reading Abbey more than held their own against one of the teams newly relegated into South West Division One East, but they ultimately went down 15-14 at home to Old Patesians.

In a game of fluctuating fortunes the home side dominated territory for the bulk of the first half, while Pats were the superior side for most of the second period. However, the visitors only went ahead as the game entered injury time, and even after that Abbey scored a try which, had it been converted, would have won them the game.

Abbey had the advantage of a strong wind in the first half, and they soon showed their big pack would be competitive – after 12 minutes of continuous presence in the Patesians’ half, a penalty from centre Ollie Walton gave the hosts a deserved lead.

Abbey continued to dominate and a further two Walton penalties made it 9-0 after 22 minutes.

Things got worse for Pats when Matt Dean, their outside half, was yellow carded for a deliberate knock on, although the numerical advantage was short-lived as Michal Kruzycki soon joined Dean on the side-lines after throwing a punch.

At this stage of the game Patesians finally came to life, and they looked the stronger side during the last 10 minutes of the first half, with second row Josh Stevens crossing for the visitors’ first try of the afternoon.

Despite leading 9-5 at the interval, Abbey were soon defending early in the second period, with Ed Whelan, Will Woodward (pictured) and Omar Ellaboudy all tackling well.

However, after a period of sustained pressure, Patesians full back Peter Carter reduced the home lead to a single point with a penalty.

Carter later had a chance to give his side the lead for the first time, but he pulled his 35-metre penalty to the left of the posts, and he was then timed-out by referee Kalvin Withers when he was about to have another shot at the posts. The game was now an hour old and Abbey were still clinging to their lead, but holes were beginning to appear in the home midfield.

Carter and No.8 Chris Downes both split the Abbey defence with strong runs, and then centre Jack Harrod broke through, only to be stopped by Gavin Dampies.

With 10 minutes of normal time remaining, Abbey found some momentum following a great clearance kick from Luke Burns.

A series of drives took play right up to the visitors’ line, and when Ellaboudy and Burns moved the ball to the left Dampies came close to crossing the line in the corner.

Then the forwards took control with Hallett only just failing to reach the lines following a series of drives. A score at this stage, or failing that the ability to stay in the Pats’ 22, might have been enough to give Abbey victory, but the ball was lost at a line-out and the visitors went back on the attack.

With one minute of injury time played, they finally took the lead when Harrod stormed over under the posts, scrum half James Aherne adding the routine conversion to make it 15-9.

To their credit Abbey immediately went on the attack in an effort to rescue the game.

They retained possession superbly during a series of phases, and they got a deserved reward when Dampies sprinted over in the right corner.

His try left Walton with the almost impossible task of conquering a tricky wind to win the game with a conversion from the touchline.

His kick never looked like succeeding, but at least Abbey had ensured that for the second week in a row they had garnered a losing bonus point.

This was another hugely encouraging showing from the Rosehill outfit.

There were faults in the tactical kicking and the line-out faltered in the second half, while the Pats’ backs were allowed too much freedom in the middle of the park.

However, there was again much to admire, particularly from the pack, with Woodward and Ellaboudy perhaps the outstanding players.

Oxford Harlequins, who have also lost their opening three games and are bottom of the table, are next Saturday’s opponents, and Abbey can approach this game with confidence.

Once again it was abundantly clear at Rosehill that Abbey are by no means out of place in this league following their back-to-back promotions of the previous two seasons.

l READING Abbey Nuns failed to hit top form but still disposed of Sutton and Epsom 44-5.

Alice Denton scored four tries while Annette Tomas helped herself to a hat-trick.