AFTER RAMS DEFEAT CINDERFORD

By RICHARD ASHTON sport@wokingham.today

SEB REYNOLDS believes

National One is the best advert for rugby after Rams sent he title race to the wire with a brilliant 38-28 home win against Cinderford.

The hosts built up a 19-0 lead in front of a record crowd of 1,284 at Old Bath Road, James McRae, Ollie Cole and Axel Kalling-Smith, with an extraordinary length-ofthe-field effort.

Zach Clow and Dan Swain both sin-binned before Cinderford cut the gap to five points at half-time through converted Nathan Taylor and George Porter tries.

Max Hayman became the third home player to be yellow carded early in the second half, but another stunning counter-attack was finished by Kalling-Smith for 24-14.

Replacement Ollie Monye then darted over with his first touch and Connor Stapley grabbed his side’s sixth, Humberstone’s two conversions giving his side breathing space.

While Cinderford grabbed two late converted scores through Taylor and Mike Wilcox, it was too little, too late.

The RAMS’ director of rugby Reynolds said: “We owed it to ourselves to put in a performance because we weren’t at our best in December, and they did a fantastic job in getting a comfortable win.

“We hadn’t avenged any losses this year, so no matter what stage of the season we were at, league positions were irrelevant, we had to perform to move forward as a side, and we did that well.”

Things looked good for Rams early on with Kalling-Smith’s stunner the highlight, but the visitors gave themselves hope with a couple of comeback scores before the break.

Reynolds continued: “Cinderford are a real threat because their midfield players are excellent jackallers, so if you’re not on the money at the breakdown they’ll turn you over or slow your ball down.

“Then if you lose your discipline, they’re in the corner and scoring tries.

“They got a couple of maul tries, but for the most part we defended it well and held a couple up – if we hadn’t done that, we could have lost the game.

The result keeps Rams a point clear of Sale and five from Cambridge with the top two finishing next Saturday, though the latter hold the whip hand with an extra game to play at home to Birmingham Moseley seven days after their rivals’ campaigns are wrapped up.

Reading Gymnast Star To Compete In Czech Open

By ANDY PRESTON apreston@wokingham.today

Reynolds said: “We don’t know how the season’s going to pan out. Cambridge should do it, but we just have to focus on our performance and see how the land lies after the Esher game.

“This level of rugby is the best advert you have for the sport.

“I question what the Premiership is where there’s no jeopardy, no relegation.

“If you look at what National One is producing, the fact is we’ve got to go to a quality side in Esher who are battling to stay up and we’re looking to stay in the hunt, that’s how it should be.

“There are meaningful matches all the way through, and for the Premiership to want to pull up the drawbridge and say ‘we’re happy, we’ll stay as we are’ is out of order.” n On Saturday RAMS travel to 11th placed Esher for their final game of the season.

GYMNAST Em Kays has been selected to represent the Southern Region squad this month at the Czech Aerobic Open.

The 15-year-old who trains at Virtue Gymnastics in Tilehurst will take on fellow athletes in Czech Republic in this month’s competition.

Speaking on Hospital Radio Reading, Em and her coach at Virtue, Celine Payne, explained her journey into aerobic gymnastics and how she was selected.

“There’s a choreography routine with arms and legs with different movements which is similar to dance,” said Em.

“Then there are transitions which is similar to normal gymnastics with flips and aerials.

“We have a lot of time working on routines. It takes months to perfect them. It’s muscle memory and when you love it, you know what you’re doing.”

The competition, which begins today (Thursday) will be the first time that Em will have competed in a competition abroad up against gymnasts from across the globe.

Celine added: “The main thing a coach looks for is confidence and work ethic.

“If they have that in them, they can be a great athlete. With Em, she had natural flexibility and was a natural hard worker.

“Everyone in the Southern region has to trial and luckily Em was one of the selected 10 in her age group. She’s been amazing and I’m proud of her for whatever she does.”