Brentwood U17s 32 Harlow U17s 5

Brentwood start new year with a win…

This was always going to be an odd game, Luke was on the wing and it wasn’t long before Billy went to fullback…(You can only begin to imagine how much I was hoping Harlow would rain down the high balls) so Brentwood were slightly lacking in structure from the off.

Despite this the start was pretty good, Chris McCarthy took the ball in and it was recycled quickly for Charlie to put in a lengthy kick for the corner. The lineout was nicked and the ball out quickly for Luke to score, Dee was a little shocked, apparently that’s the first try he’s scored in about 3 seasons, well for the right team anyway!  The conversion missed, 5-0 Brentwood.

As the next period of play started it occurred to me that a worrying number of our players appear to caught some kind of pink disease, from Luke’s pink boots to Charlie and Ollie in their pink skin tight stuff, frankly it’s a little worrying, you’ll start playing in girlie tights next…but back to the game Brentwood did their usual give away a few numpty penalties and lose any semblance of a rhythm however they eventually managed to put a few phases together, Joel made a strong break down the wing and Matt Whaley was on hand to collect the pop pass and complete the score. The conversion missed, 10-0 Brentwood.

Given that weather prior to the game had been torrential rain Harlow’s pitches were in a remarkably good state compared to the quagmire that is Brentwood but it was still muddy and with the ball becoming increasingly more slippery the game was punctuated with knock ons so it was no surprise that Brentwood reverted to the forwards for their next try, opting to maul the ball from a lineout with Chris Doble being the man to claim the score. The conversion missed, 15-0 Brentwood.

The last try of the half went to Harlow who had been competing hard through out. An intercept pass was latched on to and Brentwood’s fullback (wonder who that was…) failed to get any where near him as the Harlow player coasted in. The conversion missed, 15-5 Brentwood and half time.

The second half started well for Brentwood as they earned an early penalty. The ball was kicked for the corner, the lineout taken well and after a few surges from the forwards it was out quickly for Chris Doble to supply the pass which put Joel over in the corner. The conversion missed, 20-5 Brentwood.

Brentwood were now dominating despite a spirited effort from Harlow and were winning more and more penalties. After Lewis had made a few yards another penalty was awarded and the option to scrum was taken to tie in the Harlow forwards. Clearly it was the right option as Charlie ghosted through the defence to go under the posts. Finally, a conversion! 27-5 Brentwood.

Brentwood’s final try came from another forward lurking on the wing. This time it was Lewis who managed to use every last inch of pace he had to just about make it over the line in the corner from about 20 yards out, quite an exceptional distance from a prop! The conversion missed, 32-5 Brentwood.

Full time followed soon after in a performance from Brentwood that was sometimes great and other times a bit lumpy but hopefully shifted a few of those Christmas mince pies…