Brentwood U15s 17 South Woodham Ferrers U15s 10

Brentwood off to a winning start…

The start was slow, you wouldn’t expect anything less from the Brentwood boys, early knocks ons, lack of support and just general mistakes left a much more awake looking South Woodham Ferrers side well in ascendancy. Although Brentwood did have equal possession they looked asleep and South Woodham Ferrers soon created a chance with their backs slicing through the defence to leave a one on one with fullback Roland. Most players when they get one on one with a fullback start deciding quite how dramatically they should dive under the posts for their try, not something you should do with Roland who duly put in a crunching tackle and Brentwood managed to turn the ball over and clear.

After more good play from South Woodham Ferrers it took another huge tackle to stop them, this time from Sam Morgan who smashed the opposing centre leaving him winded. Whilst play was stopped the team was called together for their first yelling at of the season by coach Ian however this didn’t seem to help with no noticeable improvement in play when the game restarted. The first quarter ended 0-0.

Someone must have put something in the water as the boys took to the field for the 2nd quarter as straight from the off they won the ball, the forwards made hard yards and with the try line beckoning the ball was just knocked on. Because a Brentwood player knocked the ball over the line and South Woodham touched it down it was a 22-drop out so straight away Brentwood had the possession back. A slashing run from Charlie Chambers had South Woodham scrambling back, the ball was then released to Miles who cut back inside to free up the space for the supporting Adam who received the pass and dived over for a well taken try in the corner. Adam also kicked the difficult conversion, 7-0 Brentwood.

For the rest of the quarter the forwards worked hard with some good mauling and rucking and it looked like Brentwood could score again when Charlie broke free after the forward’s good work only for him to be tackled dangerously and with the stoppage half time was called.

The 3rd quarter started with an intense battle in the middle of the field for possession between both sets of forwards with aggressive rucking from both sides. Brentwood managed to gain sufficient control of the ball for Michael Dennis to make a sniping run. The ball was recycled quickly to Will Bassenger who looked like he might make a personal best and score from 10 whole metres out rather than the usual 5, only to be dragged down inches short. The forwards piled in and the ball was popped out to Chris McCarthy who dived over. With Adam off Roland attempted the kick and was just wide. 12-0 Brentwood.

Not long after the restart Brentwood gave away an ill-timed penalty allowing South Woodham Ferrers to kick for the corner and maul. The maul was strong, sucking in Brentwood players and when the ball was whipped out to the backs there was just enough space on the wing for the South Woodham Ferrers player to evade James Paton’s last-ditch tackle and score. The conversion was missed, 12-5 to Brentwood.

The last quarter started worse than the first had begun with a combination of good running from South Woodham Ferrers and missed tackles from Brentwood allowing South Woodham to score in the corner. The conversion was agonisingly close but just missed, leaving Brentwood with a slender two point lead, 12-10.

Brentwood upped their game from then on with a huge amount of pressure culminating in a 5-metre scrum to South Woodham Ferrers in the corner. After several resets because of massive Brentwood shoving, Brentwood won the ball against the head. Mikey broke from the base and was supported by Sam Morgan who somehow got the ball to Ross Dibben who, despite his heavy night beforehand, stepped in and went over to score. Its been suggested Ross has a heavy session every Saturday now! Third kicker of the day Jake Eagleton also saw his conversion attempt go just wide, 17-10 to Brentwood.

A huge cheer from the RTP’s (Raving Touchline Parents), who’d spent the morning breaking every RFU guideline going (mentioning no names…Bill, Ian…), went up as Brentwood won a penalty for South Woodham not releasing which signalled the end of the match. A fiercely contested game and a good platform to start the season on, full time Brentwood 17, South Woodham Ferrers 10.