Deepings strung together an immaculate passage of play which culminated in an unconverted try after just three minutes.

Brackley however steadied the ship. as for the next 30 minutes, they not only defended resolutely to deny Deepings another score but also made several telling breaks themselves, with David Boot-Handford particularly potent when attacking from deep. However, with less than 10 minutes of the half to go, an unforced error by Brackley on halfway gave Deepings a shot at goal which soared over the bar on the back of the wind.

Then, right on the stroke of half time, smart handling by Deepings from a tapped penalty put their giant No 5 over for a try. The successful conversion took the half time score to 15-0.

With the wind at their backs for the second half, Brackley were in their element. Fly-half Robert Hedges, making a welcome return to the side after long-term injury, and centre Cartmell began to bombard Deepings with accurate, long range kicks, pinning them deep in their own territory.

Brackley drove forward and strong running from prop Andrew Neville-Davies brought a pile of bodies over the try line from which Joe Collins emerged to claim the score. From wide out on the right, Boot-Handford cleverly floated the ball in front of the posts for a wind assisted conversion.

When Boot-Handford landed a penalty goal to narrow the lead to just five points with 20 minutes to go, a win for Brackley looked on the cards. But despite continuing to hold Deepings under sustained pressure for the rest of the half, Brackley were unable to conjure up another score to pull off a famous victory.

Brackley: David Boot-Handford, Matt Titchener, Dan Gray, Graeme Cartmell, Ryan Murray (Wayne Johnson), Robert Hedges, Jason Flynn, Thomas Kozlowski, Jon Ayres (Mike Harper), Andrew Neville-Davies,Jason Sadler, Joe Collins, Ben Moore, Andy Morris, Joe Staniforth.

Brackley's league programme takes them away to Peterborough Lions this weekend.

In-form Brackley under-14s went into last Saturday's tournament at Northampton Saints with high hopes of success, but were beaten by Wellingborough. Brackley started brightly, forcing an early scrum and winning a penalty – from which Ed Russell set up Will Butler to score the opening try.

Brackley failed to convert and with that their fortunes changed. They came under heavy attack as Wellingborough pitched camp inside their 22 and by the interval were 19-5 down. Ben Welham scored a consolation try in the second half as Brackley lost 38-10.

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