Brentwood U17s 9 Barking U17s 3

Brentwood win Christmas cracker…

In a game that had absolutely no Christmas cheer and goodwill Brentwood put in a wonderful dogged performance to narrowly beat rivals Barking.

It didn’t look hopeful for Brentwood with dwindling team numbers due to holidays, colds and drunken mishaps resulting in injury leaving us with only 17 players. But the boys had that look of determination in the eye and it was evident from the off this was one they were desperate to win.

There was somewhat of a gale blowing this week, in the first half it was in Brentwood’s favour so Charlie kicked for the corners as much as possible and let the forwards try and win the ball back, making the rest of the backs quite redundant at times. And the forwards did their job well, forcing an early penalty from Barking. Billy told Charlie to kick the points and Charlie duly stepped up and walloped the ball through the posts, straight into the hedges at the back of the field and that was the last we saw of that ball, 3-0 Brentwood.

Brentwood then did exactly what you’re not meant to do straight after scoring and handed the ball back to Barking who piled into the Brentwood 22. But Brentwood held firm defensively and the ball was turned over. Charlie spotted some space down the middle of the field and a wind assisted kick was sent spiralling. The chase from Sam Fry was excellent and as he made the initial tackle on the Barking fullback two other Brentwood players arrived in support. With Brentwood outnumbering Barking 3 to 1 and the ball not coming out you probably won’t see a clearer penalty for holding on.  Charlie knocked another one over, and nearly lost another ball, 6-0 Brentwood.

The next period of play was niggly, there is not much love lost between these two teams, and various accusations were flying around as well as a bit of argy bargy involving both Luke and Sam Fry. Towards Luke you’d expect it’d be warranted, he is notoriously lairy, Sam Fry however is not known for getting himself involved.

By now however Brentwood were back on the defensive and this time were on the wrong end of the referees whistle. As ever ‘stupid’ could be heard ringing around King George’s, this time doubly so as, to put it mildly, it’s clear Mikey takes after his Dad! Barking kicked a difficult penalty into the wind, 6-3 Brentwood.

Charlie put up a good restart which hung well in the wind, allowing Brentwood to compete and almost win the ball back. They didn’t quite win the ball but did force Barking into giving away another penalty. Charlie yet again stepped up and made it 3 from 3, 9-3 Brentwood.

Half time followed soon after and there was a sense of nervousness from the Brentwood support. I will happily admit to the fact that I didn’t think that a 6 point lead was enough given that Brentwood had been playing with the wind in their favour and downhill for the first half.

Of course the boys love nothing better than to prove me wrong. The second half was to be one of the most determined displays of defence we have ever witnessed from the Brentwood boys. To prevent any team from scoring a single point in those conditions would be some achievement but it is even more admirable against opposition such as Barking. Of course there were moments when the defence was desperate and a last ditch tackle kept Barking out on two occasions but there were also times when it was magnificent, a 20 metre maul from the Brentwood try line to allow Charlie to kick clear being a fine example of this.

With one last almighty effort Brentwood managed to earn themselves a kickable penalty but on the angle and into the wind Charlie’s attempt just drifted wide. And didn’t go out either. Barking hoofed down field and went tearing after it, Matt Smith the only man back for Brentwood also went tearing after it. There was an audible gasp on the touchline as Matt Smith reached the ball first but then fumbled it backwards and had to chase it once more. He retrieved it with a Barking player bearing down on him fast and cries from both Mikey and Billy to kick it out could probably have been heard in the high street. Thankfully Matt did as instructed and smashed it off the field, the referee blew the final whistle and Brentwood’s awesome display of defence earned them a very valuable league win.

Every boy 1-17 should be commended for working their socks off today, it wasn’t pretty but it was impressive. What’s even more impressive is that Will, due only for a ten minute cameo again following his ten months out, managed an entire game as lack of props meant he was needed. But again this would suggest Matt Whaley had yet another blinder as he probably had to push for Will in the scrums and carry him around the field at times! Lastly, a mention for the referee, who we thought refereed very well given the sometimes heated nature of the game.

The boys reward for their win was the Dads and Lads (and Becky and Jodie) Christmas curry. A good night was had by all, although I hear the following day wasn’t so pleasant for some, and it was great to see a big enough turn out for us to actually take over, and probably drink dry, the Indian. It was also lovely to see Paul back with the boys and drinking, even though he ‘only has half a pancreas’ as he mentioned several times! Highlights of the evening included Leeroy eating flowers and playing the harmonica, varying Dads playing the kazoo, a couple of doodlebug calls, a wonderful song dedicated to Pete McCarthy (I’m afraid I feel posting the lyrics here would probably cause offence to some…), mint sauce, Billy being rubbish at various drinking games, Jodie being even worse at said drinking games and Keith debating with himself who the best looking member of the team is. (I won’t tell you who he decided on, the boy in question will be scarred for life.) A nice way to end the year!