Brentwood U16s 60 Burnham U16s 0

Brentwood rack up some points…

Upon arriving at Brentwood the first thing I heard was “Becky, don’t suppose you fancy reffing do you?” Let’s try no shall we…and with that the only even half willing volunteer to referee was EDR. This may explain the score line; the game flowed to say the least…

Brentwood , it appeared, were back in their frivolous tour mood and seemed to have decided they were going to sling it around a bit. This was again working to great effect and after a period of pressure Adam made a nice break and unloaded to Sam Fry who brushed off a couple of tackles to score the opening try. Having jogged back to the half way line he decided he’d got a few too many layers on and started removing items of clothing in the middle of the pitch (honestly you’ll see why this is relevant in a minute) and in the mean time Adam popped the conversion over, 7-0 Brentwood. And then Sue turns round and says “Did that go over? I was too busy watching Sam undress.” Anyone know if she’s been CRB checked?

The game restarted, still no penalties anywhere, and Brentwood continued to play ‘pretty’ rugby. Of course you know things are going your way when even Chris McCarthy is plucking passes off his bootlaces and putting his winger in for a try, Miles being on the end of the pass to cross the whitewash out wide. The conversion missed, 12-0 Brentwood and it appears Sue managed to keep her eyes to her self this time.

After a whirlwind start by Brentwood Burnham began to establish a foothold in the game, causing Brentwood some problems in defence. The Brentwood players playing for Burnham, Luke, Mikey and Chris Doble appeared to be thoroughly enjoying playing against their usual team mates and with the inexperienced referee all sorts was going on. At scrum time, Luke and Ollie were slapping each other on the flanks, Billy and Mikey were tussling at the side of rucks and Chris was on the receiving end of a couple of attempted monster tackles! However the biggest tackle was the one Jonny managed to put in on Simon Brooks on the touchline, who went absolutely flying, perhaps he has issues with the photography…

Brentwood ’s next try came from a good reaction by Jonny. The ball went lose when Burnham were attacking and he pounced quickly, scooping it up and setting off up the field, he looked to be aware. But then there was Mikey, showing a turn of pace I’m not convinced he ever shows for Brentwood (I jest), he hauled Jonny down with the line beckoning. Unfortunately for Mikey, Sam Fry was up in support and retrieved the ball for a run in for his second try of the game. Adam again converted, 19-0 Brentwood and half time followed soon after.

After half time and some oxygen for EDR Brentwood continued from where they left off. They managed to disrupt a Burnham lineout and again somehow came up with the ball with Rob making a charge for the line and scoring. Adam was on target, 26-0 Brentwood.

Adam had a heavy hand and boot in Brentwood’s next try. A good up and under kick was chased well by Sam Fry, as soon as it had been caught Sam was up with the tackle and as a result the ball was turned over. It was flung wide to Paul who went tearing down the wing, drew the defender and passed the ball back inside to Adam who also got caught but popped the ball back to Matt Gray who, having just entered the field of play, fell over the try line to score and got bundled by Chris Doble for his troubles. Despite Luke and Mikey putting him under pressure, Adam knocked the conversion over, 33-0 Brentwood.

Brentwood ’s next platform was set by a slashing run by James down the wing and a spectacular juggle by Matt Whaley which was unfortunately just knocked on. However at the scrum, and with Ollie probably pulling Luke’s hair, Brentwood won the ball back, a charge from Carl made further metres, Sam Fry took pity on Billy and passed to send him over the try line. Again Billy tells me I missed his mazy run where he beat 7 defenders with lethal side steps to score from the half way line, I think it was just jug avoidance on Sam’s part! Adam again converted, 40-0 Brentwood.

Things were starting to get a little ridiculous now with Ollie throwing a through the legs Carlos Spencer type pass but everything Brentwood tried seemed to be working. The forwards were winning quick ball which meant the backs were on the front foot and swift hands along the backline again saw Paul steam in the corner for a try. Adam missed the conversion, Luke telling everyone loudly that it being a pressure kick had gotten to him…45-0 Brentwood.

The next issue for Brentwood was that having leant Burnham players and with various forwards injuries they were a flanker down. Chuck one of the backs in then, Sam Fry getting overly excited about getting to join the ‘real men’ in the scrum for one game only. Georgina was however less excited; the prospect of his ears getting messed up was almost too much for her! Following having a back in the scrum Ollie and Ross decided they should readdress the balance by lurking in the centres in the next phase of open play. Despite yells from the spectators to get back in the rucks, they combined well to make space for Adam to put James into enough space to jink his way through for another try. The conversion missed, 50-0 Brentwood.

By this point, I was struggling to keep up with what was going on since Brentwood were scoring at quite a rate and the mental math’s was proving difficult. Due to this I’m lead to believe Brentwood’s score was probably forward orientated since I’ve written smash, smash, and smash. I vaguely recall Pratley make some powerful runs, whatever had happened the end result was another try for Rob. Conversion missed, 55-0 Brentwood.

Brentwood’s final score came swiftly afterwards with Brentwood having re-gathered the restart and made some yards back towards the Burnham line. The rain was just starting to come down and everybody was yelling time at EDR when James picked a great line off Adam and went sashaying through the Burnham defence to score the final try of the game. The conversion missed, 60-0 Brentwood and full time.

A great display of running rugby from Brentwood and commiserations to Burnham for not getting on the score sheet since the score line does not reflect the times Burnham left Brentwood’s defence in disarray and we were, as ever, bailed out by Roland nailing his man at fullback. Special thanks must be extended to EDR too, I have never seen a game flow so well and only about 6 penalties in the entire match must mean both teams were stunningly well disciplined!