Under 16s Golden Boot 2007

Brentwood U16s 22 Rochford U16s 0

Having been there since nine am and with our first game not until five past one everyone on the touchline was ever so slightly concerned that in those fours hours the boys may just have dozed off and not be in any fit state to play! Fortunately this wasn’t the case, the boys setting off at a ferocious pace in their first game against Rochford.

The forwards rucking can only be described as immense as they piled in and time and time again made more yards from pick and goes until they were firmly camped in Rochford territory with no intention of leaving without points. Admittedly there were mistakes, but with Brentwood having a significant superiority in the scrum the knocks on didn’t matter quite as much. From one such scrum Brentwood won the ball against the head and the ball squirted out to scrum half Michael. Whilst being taken by surprise by receiving the ball quite that quickly he did well to take it in and recycle. The ball was then spread wide quickly to Jonny on the wing who went in for Brentwood’s first try of the campaign. The drop kicked conversion was missed, 5-0 Brentwood.

From the restart Brentwood picked straight up from where they left off with a great restart take from Ross Cant putting them on the front foot. The ball was passed to Sam Fry who burst through the middle of the defence to beat several attempted tackles before offloading. Jake continued the move further up field before being tackled but the ball was recycled quickly whilst the defensive line was still disorganised and Sam Fry was on hand to finish the move he’d started, coasting in over the try line for a well worked try. Adam drop kicked the conversion and the first half ended (and doesn’t nine minutes fly when the boys are playing well!) 12-0 to Brentwood.

Following the swift two minute break it was back to action. The restart was defended well by Brentwood, Rochford taking it into the maul and Brentwood propelling them backwards to force the scrum in their favour. James came crashing off the back from number 8 to make the initial break and the ball went out to Joel who worked hard to barrel his way towards the try line. The ball was back with the forwards who decided the backs had scored a couple so it was their turn and Billy was shoved over for the score. The conversion missed, 17-0 to Brentwood.

In the next period of play a cracking break from Matt Smith sent Rochford back peddling and forced them into conceding a penalty. It was quickly taken by Sam Morgan who rode the first tackle before offloading to the other Sam, Sam Fry, who managed to bounce a couple of tackles before scoring his second try of the game. The conversion missed and the game ended 22-0 to Brentwood, an impressive start and if the stats are correct the only bonus point win in the pool stages.

Brentwood U16s 10 Burnham U16s 0

Brentwood ’s next opponents were Burnham and the game kicked off just as Billy’s fan club turned up (I notice they only appear when the weather’s nice…can they bring pom poms next time?).

The game started in the same fashion as the previous encounter against Rochford with the forwards picking and driving patiently to gain territory and retain possession. Their patience paid off when James found half an inch of space…ok maybe its needs to be a bit bigger to fit James through…James found 3 inches of space and made the half break. He popped the ball to Luke who threw a nice pass to Jake who stepped the last man to go under the posts for the score. The conversion hit the post, infuriating since you probably couldn’t do that if you tried, 5-0 to Brentwood.

Brentwood then put themselves under all sorts of pressure with a phase of completely mad play in their own 22. Well I guess it just wouldn’t be the same if they didn’t suffer from mad-five-minutes syndrome at least once! Fortunately Paul stepped in to save the day when a haywire kick looked certain to end up in Burnham hands with a majestic high ball take, unfortunately this left him with a nice black eye. But don’t worry too much, I’m sure it’ll have the girls swooning, Billy may even lose some of his fan club! Jake ended the half with a monstrous tackle on one of the Burnham players, putting him into touch so hard that he sent spectators scattering like bowling pins, one man being hit so hard that he went flying. He did however point out that he didn’t spill a single drop of his beer!

The boys started the second half in a far more composed fashion with a great turnover being won by a banana fuelled Chris McCarthy (sources tell me he’d eaten no less than 9 bananas before kick off) and the ball was quickly out to Jonny who was just stopped short of a try in the corner. Brentwood weren’t about to let the try scoring opportunity go begging and nicked the line out ball. Quick ball gave the backs the time and space they needed and Joel went over for the try in the corner. See Joel that’s two mentions in two matches so you must get the ball more often than you claim to! The conversion missed, 10-0 Brentwood, which is how the game ended after Brentwood spent the remainder of the half defending on their own try line after a Burnham onslaught.

With two wins from two games Brentwood were through to the Golden Boot Semi final against the winners of Pool 2. The winners of this pool were Hertford having beaten South Woodham Ferrers 10-0, Upminster 5-0 and drawing 5 all with Braintree.

Brentwood U16s 10 Hertford U16s 0

The start was again good, territory being gained at a rate of knots until the ball was knocked on deep in the Hertford 22. The scrum was however won against the head and Brentwood were back in possession. Ross Cant made a nice run followed by a good offload to Chris Doble. He got the ball to Sam Morgan who went over in corner for the try. Charlie dropped kicked a touchline conversion that even Mr Wilkinson would be proud of, 7-0 Brentwood.

From the restart James set off on a rampage. The ball was sent quickly through the hands and play was flowing well until a penalty was conceded for an infringement in the ruck and Hertford had the opportunity to clear.

Following the lineout Brentwood returned to putting on the pressure with another huge it from Jake and the turnover won by James. The penalty was forced and the option was taken to go for goal to get two scores ahead. With only one minute allowed to prepare to kick and trying to find the kicking tee proving to be as easy as finding a needle in a haystack Charlie decided he’d do another Wilko impersonation and cooling popped the penalty straight through the middle of the posts with another drop kick. 10-0 Brentwood and half time.

The second half was incredibly hard fought with Hertford desperately scrapping to get back into the game and Brentwood having to defend as if their lives depended on it. There was a bit of argy bargy late on when one of the Hertford players appeared to take offence to Billy’s face (well who wouldn’t?) but Brentwood finished strongly with several try scoring attempts held up over the try line and the clean sheet remaining in tact. The final score was 10-0 which sent Brentwood through to the final having not even conceded a try in the entire day. They might even have scored one more try had Billy not dropped the ball over the line in the final match, a typical Billy thing to do really although in fairness to him I at least would have consulted the TMO as it looked like a tight call…

Brentwood ’s opponents in the final were to be the winners of the semi final consisting of the winners of pools 3 and 4. The winner of pool 3 was Chingford with a 5-0 win over Chelmsford, 5 all draw with Barking and 12-5 win over Medway. The winner of pool 4 was Thurrock with a 7-5 win over Westcliff and a 7-5 win against Woodford. Thurrock went on to win the semi final 8-0 scoring a try and a drop goal.

Brentwood U16s 20 Thurrock U16s 14

The game was physical from the off, you could hear the crunching hits from the touchline as both teams fought to get into the game early on but it was Brentwood who managed to establish a foothold as they worked their way slowly up the field via their forwards. Again the scrums were being won against the head for Brentwood but they suddenly seemed to be lacking the killer incision which had been such a prominent part of their play in the earlier stages of the tournament. A penalty attempt was narrowly missed and then came a real hammer blow. Thurrock’s defence caused Brentwood to panic slightly and a wonky pass was throw which was quickly retrieved by Thurrock and with Brentwood not in a defensive position the try was scored. Worse still the conversion went over and it was 7-0 Thurrock. Suddenly the horrible feeling of needing an oxygen tank that had been experienced the previous night during England’s victory (sorry I thought if I typed it I might actually believe it) returned.

Like England though Brentwood hadn’t come this far to lie down and die. Brentwood battled hard for the ball and James again made a smashing (literally!) run. The ball was offloaded and Roland (not Sam Fry) was on hand to score the try in the corner. The conversion missed 7-5 to Thurrock and half time.

As the second half began Keith informed me that William and Billy were rallying the troops as if they were in the trenches and sure enough the boys came out firing with big carries from the forwards, notably William and James.

However then came Brentwood’s second disaster, time seemed to stand still as Charlie’s attempted clearance kick was charged down and the ball bounced the right way for the Thurrock player to go over for their second try, only the second try they’d conceded all tournament. The conversion was also on target, 14-5 Thurrock.

The Brentwood spectators started to pace, it seemed like the game was slipping away. Fortunately the boys on the pitch weren’t in that kind of mindset. Thurrock failed to catch the mindset and Jonny was in on the loose ball like a flash. It was quickly with Sam Morgan who wasn’t going to stop until he reached the try line, regardless of how many defenders he had to run over to get there! The try was given but the conversion was missed leaving Brentwood 14-10 down.

And the drama was not over, soon after the restart Brentwood were awarded a penalty. It was poked in the corner, the lineout taken well and the maul set up. When the maul halted the ball was spun out to the backs but a wonky pass hit the floor with Sam Fry just manage to dive on it before a Thurrock player to retain possession. Another dodgy pass was then flung wide, it went backwards and hit the floor before anyone could catch it but this was to be the omen it was Brentwood’s day. Nine times out of ten that pass would have been recovered by Thurrock or knocked on by Brentwood but at that moment it bounced perfectly into Joel’s hand and he crashed in for the try in the corner. The conversion missed giving Brentwood a slender one point lead at 15-14 and a heart stopping last few minutes for the supporters!

Now it was all about retaining possession and not doing anything stupid to let Thurrock regain the lead but the boys were going for another score. They kept pressing and pressing with three successive held up tries and three successive Brentwood scrums from 5 metres out. It was to be third time lucky as James used up his last reserves of energy to come flying off the back of the scrum. As he took the defenders out he popped the pass to the supporting Billy who managed to scramble over for the try. It would have to be Billy wouldn’t it…fortunately he managed to keep hold of the ball this time round! The conversion hit the post but it didn’t matter as the end of the game was signalled straight after, a 20-14 win for Brentwood and a brilliant come back. Commiserations to Thurrock who played their part in an outstanding final game.

The trophies were presented to the winning teams of all the finals, Upminster winning the Bowl Final, Braintree winning the Shield Final, Medway winning the Plate Final and of course Brentwood winning the Golden Boot itself!

Lastly a big well done to everyone who helped on the day, especially those who were first there and last to leave! Special mentions to ‘The Programme Mafia’ as someone kindly dubbed them, Pauline and Nick who manned the sweet stall, Georgina and Nikki on the raffle, the pitch marshals (even if Swampy did temporarily lose his flags!), Bill sorting out the scores, Simon on the PA system, the various mum’s who helped clean, the kitchen people who fed the hungry masses and anyone else I’ve forgotten who helped!