U15s 17 Chingford U15s 0

Mud glorious mud…

The pitch was in a perfect condition for the forwards to actually have an excuse not to let the backs have the ball. Thick mud everywhere meant the ball was slippery and as a result there were many scrums for knock ons. In spite of this Brentwood’s play was very good straight from the off. The ball was turned over by the forwards deep in their own 22 and through a series of drives and good running the boys made their way up field. A succession of penalties then saw James and Sam Morgan make strong runs to gain further yardage and Brentwood proceeded to spend the next part of the game camped on the Chingford line.

Chingford’s defence was very strong, they repelled wave after wave of Brentwood attack but eventually the referee deemed they stopped Brentwood illegally and gave a penalty. Instead of crashing it down the middle as everyone probably expected the ball was shipped quickly as Chingford were back peddling and Sam Fry ran in to score. Billy’s conversion attempt was just wide, 5-0 to Brentwood.

Brentwood continued to play well, mixing it up with the backs and the forwards and the handling generally being quite good except for the odd knock on which, given the conditions, was unsurprising.

For the remainder of the half Brentwood had all the possession, all the territory and all the pressure but Chingford defended magnificently to prevent any further score and the first half finished 5-0 to Brentwood.

The second half saw Billy switch from flanker to fly half where he immediately seemed at home, running well and making some good decisions. At one point Chingford looked like setting off on a long distance break out from a turnover in their own 22 but upon reaching one on one with Roland at fullback the Chingford attacker decided to try and steam roller him. As ever Roland put him on his backside and the Chingford attack was snuffed out. Slow ball forced Chingford to try and clear their lines but the kick didn’t make touch, instead it landed in space on the wing. Nathan did extremely well to react quickly and win the 50:50 ball. He stayed on his feet well and Brentwood formed a maul. The maul came down on the try line and from the ruck Rob managed to squeeze over round the fringe for the try. Billy’s conversion was perfect. 12-0 to Brentwood.

Brentwood then embarked on their mad 5 minutes where everyone on the pitch does their best to undo all the good work done previously. They began conceding penalties left, right and centre and with the ball getting more and more caked in mud there were loads of handling errors. During this period however Brentwood managed not to concede a score and eventually they won the ball back.

Roland went burrowing through the Chingford defensive line and the backs tried to spin the ball wide but a pass just didn’t go to hand. The Brentwood defence prevented Chingford from getting out of their own 22 and when they tried to kick for territory Chris Doble did well to charge down, putting Chingford in all sorts of trouble. Brentwood proceeded to nick the ball and maul it to the try line. Ross ended up at the bottom of the heap of bodies to claim the try. Billy’s conversion dropped just short, 17-0 Brentwood.

Chingford tried to mount a last ditch challenge on the Brentwood line and the Brentwood defence was beginning to look increasingly more fragile. The Chingford centre managed to burst straight through and look certain to go under the posts but somehow Billy managed to haul him down by his fingertips and the final was blown soon after.

17-0 to Brentwood at full time and a very good performance with brilliant effort from every player. But one last request, James and William, leave the kicking to the backs!