Penns finally got their 2026/27 campaign underway on Saturday, travelling away to face Reading III, who were on a high following victory over Crowthorne the previous weekend.

It was Reading who initially made the brighter start, with some big hits going in from both teams. And it was Reading who got on the scoreboard first. Royal conceded several penalties around the breakdown to give Reading possession approaching the Penns 22. Reading forced an overlap down the left wing, which was initially superbly covered by outside centre Miles Young, tackling the winger into touch. But in a moment of madness, Young threw a quick lineout that caught all of his teammates out and allowed Reading the simplest of tries under the posts. This was duly converted, despite Kyle Knight getting fingertips on the attempted charge-down.

From the restart though, it was Penns exerting the pressure, with strong runs from the second-row partnership of Alex Moffat and James Sawle marching Penns forward. Line breaks from Knight and Finley Stenning got Penns close to the line, but the Reading defence was resolute. Some pick-and-goes around the ruck from Connor Peacock, Chris Duke and Stuie Moffat kept the pressure on, before captain Carl Corcoran squeezed over on the left. With the conversion unsuccessful, the score stood at 7–5 in favour of the home side.

After repelling some further Reading pressure through massive defensive hits from the likes of full-back Luke Holdship and centre Chris Baars, it was Penns who ended the half on the up. Continued pressure on the Reading line, marshalled by our half-back pairing of Ned Smyth and Mike Alsen, would surely lead to a score with the half-time whistle looming... And in the final play of the half, it was last season’s top try scorer Ben Holdship who looked certain to score in the right-hand corner. But for a high tackle, he would have. The ref agreed: penalty try awarded and a yellow card for the Reading number eight.

From the restart, both teams threw everything they had at each other in a bruising 20 minutes, where both defences ruled the game. The tackling of full-back Holdship surely saved Penns from a handful of promising Reading breaks. Cass Power made a welcome return to the side and made an immediate impact with trademark carries. Charlie Holdship made his debut for Royal and came agonisingly close to a debut try after supporting another Knight line break, only to be held up just centimetres short of the line.

Then the injury crisis worsened the situation for Penns, with Corcoran leaving the field with a suspected bicep rupture and Sawle with a shoulder injury. Not long after this, Stuie Moffat was sent to the sin bin for foul play. With Penns down to 13 players at one point, Reading hit hard with two tries in quick succession to take a 19–12 lead into the dying minutes.

Royal could’ve been forgiven for losing their heads at this point, but they pressed on. The returning wing Ruy Medina made his presence felt down the left of the field. But it was man of the match Luke Holdship who read a Reading move in the backs, intercepting a pass and streaking clear under the posts. Smyth added the conversion to tie the scores at 19–19, with just two minutes to play.

And it was Penns who looked more likely to snatch victory at the death, as they surged forward into the Reading half. A break from Ben Holdship down the right touchline looked promising, but when a boot touched the line it brought the encounter to an anticlimactic close. Both sides, however, will likely be glad of the two league points they take from the draw, given the game could’ve gone either way.

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Scorers
Tries: Carl Corcoran, Penalty Try, Luke Holdship
Conversions: Ned Smyth
MOTM: Luke Holdship
DOTD: Miles Young