Brentwood named an unchanged team for Saturday's trip to Woodford as they looked to maintain their winning start to 2020. Having only narrowly beaten Woodford in the reverse fixture, Brentwood were under no illusions that this would be a tough encounter.

Brentwood made a solid start to the game with Toby Tierney and Sam Kendall beginning strongly, making yards across the gainline and Brentwood had the majority of both possession and territory but could not capitalise. Errors that have largely been absent in the last few rounds - a couple of miscued lineouts and some uncharacteristic poor handling - stalled Brentwood's progress just as they were gaining momentum and with Woodford looking to cause maximum disruption at the rucks play became quite scrappy. Though Woodford were looking to stifle Brentwood's ball, they were not doing so legally in view of the referee and their rapidly increasing penalty count was allowing Brentwood to keep the pressure on.

One such penalty saw Brentwood kick for and miss touch but Woodford could only clear as far as Ed Hornby who put in an intelligent grubber to some space in the corner of the field. Having chased his own kick well and put the pressure on, Woodford's clearance was skewed and Brentwood had the attacking lineout. The lineout was accurate this time, well taken by James Killington and off the top quickly with Woodford conceding another penalty immediately from the first ruck. Thomas Lucas Roast slotted the penalty from in front of the posts to get Brentwood some points on the board, 0-3 Brentwood.

Brentwood's lead, however, was short lived as another handling error gifted the ball back to Woodford almost immediately from the restart and was further compounded by a penalty in Woodford's favour. Woodford also elected to take the points, 3 all.

Brentwood responded immediately, Charlie Wilkinson leaping athletically to nearly take the restart but just knocking it forward meaning Woodford had a defensive scrum in their own 22. From the scrum they elected to try and play a couple of phases but Brentwood defended abrasively, forcing the error to regain possession and when Woodford gave away another penalty the referee was left with little choice but to send one of their men to the bin for ten minutes.

The card, however, only served to galvanise Woodford and two muffed lineouts and a holding on penalty later, Brentwood found themselves under pressure in front of their own try line with another penalty advantage being played against them. Unable to breach the Brentwood defence, Woodford put the penalty in the corner and Brentwood were just about quick enough to stop the cheeky front of the lineout move that has undone them on other occasions this season, a massive double tackle from Matt Whaley and James Vogel in the following phase holding the ball up and earning Brentwood some respite. The scrum saw another mistake for the error count, the ball spurting out of the back and Brentwood were fortunate that Adam Thomas was the first to react, diving on the ball to secure possession before the try line; Thomas Lucas Roast's hurried clearance just about getting Brentwood out of the danger zone. When George Bassenger used the full stretch of his arms to steal the subsequent lineout ball and Sam Kendall went on another slaloming run, earning Brentwood another penalty, it appeared that Brentwood had swung the momentum back in their favour but a missed touch finder was returned with interest and Brentwood were back peddling once more. Maybe reminiscing about some of the fine rugby they'd played the week previously, Brentwood then decided to play kamikaze rugby out of their own 22. The Woodford defence, however, were having none of it and forced another Brentwood knock on. The scrum deep in Brentwood's 22 saw all of the backs shoot offside too early and Woodford took the easy three pointer on offer, taking the score to 6-3 in their favour and winning the sin bin period 3-0.

The half continued in the same untidy fashion for the next ten or so minutes, Brentwood making some good busts through the likes of Charlie Wilkinson, Adam Thomas and Sam Kendall before Joe McMillan found himself carrying in space, always a bit unnerving for a prop, and made good ground until being tackled by James Vogel who, in his attempts to provide support, pushed him over instead...Unfortunately for Brentwood it all amounted to nothing and with Woodford enjoying their own period of possession, Brentwood were once again on the defensive.

Brentwood's defensive effort though was a resilient one and with Matt Whaley probably already on twenty plus tackles for the day eventually Woodford had to try the grubber kick through as Brentwood's defence was driving them backwards. Charlie Wilkinson gathered the bobbling ball well and sensibly booted it as far down field as possible, finding an excellent touch to send Woodford retreating with no points for their efforts. From the lineout Brentwood again defended diligently and when Tijde Visser put in a big hit, isolating the Woodford carrier, George Bassenger was straight over the ball to win the holding on penalty allowing Thomas Lucas Roast to put the ball in the corner. The lineout wasn't the tidiest but Woodford gave away another penalty allowing Brentwood a second go, this time opting to try and maul the ball over. Woodford disrupted well, coming through the middle to splinter the maul legally but Brentwood just about managed to get the ball out to James White in time. It was passed to Thomas Lucas Roast who found Charlie Wilkinson coming in from the wing on the pop pass and sometimes it just takes a little bit of individual excellence, Charlie's brilliant step wrong-footing the Woodford defence to burst through and evade the cover, going over for the try by the posts. Thomas Lucas Roast made no mistake with the conversion, Brentwood only having to take the restart and kick the ball out to go in at halftime 6 - 10 to the good.

The second half started with a promising jinking run from Alex Wilson creating some room for Brentwood, only for the pass from the next phase to go sailing into touch...but at least it wasn't another knock on! Charlie Wilkinson though was on hand once more with a key intervention, reading play well and coming hurtling forward from a long way back to make a big tackle, forcing Woodford into their own knock on and giving Brentwood the put into an attacking scrum.

From the scrum James White sniped round the side and broke into space before being well supported by Toby Tierney, Joe McMillan and Tijde Visser who all took the ball on through the guts of the Woodford defence. An offside forced Thomas Lucas Roast into taking the ball in when he probably didn't want to but as ever Matt Whaley was on hand to tidy up and kept the move going knowing it was a free play thanks to the penalty advantage. Tijde Visser made another strong push for the line and was within inches before just being stopped with the ball then popped one out to George Bassenger who stepped and also went agonisingly close. The ball was recycled quickly and this time Brentwood went out to the blindside, through the hands of Toby Tierney to Sam Kendall who provided a dexterous flick on to put Ed Hornby in just enough space to dive over in the corner for the try. The conversion attempt on the wide angle just missed, 6 - 15 to Brentwood with only 5 minutes of the 2nd half played.

A successful five minutes either side of the half meant Brentwood now had a bit of breathing space but they were by no means comfortable - Woodford missing a shot at the posts not long after the try and Matt Whaley's 47th tackle of the encounter (not an official stat) halting a dangerous looking attack down the flank.

After a period of largely aimless kicking, turnovers and the kind of penalties that make coaches absolutely despair from both teams, Woodford wrestled back the impetus once more and began a concerted period of attack on Brentwood's line. A penalty saw them kick for the corner but Brentwood stopped the Woodford maul progress just short of the try line and a great effort in the tackle from Leo Friswell on the other side of the field a couple of phases later just as they looked to be through denied Woodford once more. Brentwood however, lost Toby Tierney to the sin bin for 10 minutes for a cynical lack of rolling away from the ruck, a decision that not even touch judge for the day John Sproul could argue with...pretty sure he still tried though!

Now down to 14 men, Brentwood really had to dig deep with Woodford determined to finally get through, carrying hard into contact as they tried to get over but still they were repelled away from the try line. Having attacked for multiple phases, Woodford finally looked to have worked the man advantage into an opportunity out wide but, with Brentwood very stretched, Ed Hornby was alert to the danger and read the play wonderfully, haring out of the line to intercept the Woodford pass and sprint as far as halfway before being caught, Woodford's endeavours again coming to nothing.
It was to be Ed to the rescue again shortly after too when Brentwood were caught out by a quick 22 after the ball had rolled dead. Woodford, having taken the 22 quickly and kept possession, were awarded the penalty which they also took as a quick tap. With Brentwood players all over the place or trying to make sure they were back the required 10 metres Woodford made what was probably the only real clean break of the game but were brought to a shuddering stop when Ed made a massive cover tackle, the ball being knocked on in the process and Brentwood could clear to get away unscathed.

After this period of sustained Woodford pressure, Brentwood pulled themselves back into the game once more, minus a 3 point attempt resulting from a team effort of Tijde Visser and Charlie Wilkinson getting over the ball missed but, Brentwood continued to press, carrying well up the middle until another penalty at a crucial moment gave away possession yet again.
Fortunately, Ed Hornby was very much enjoying himself and when the Woodford touch finder missed he put in an absolute peach of a kick back, his own chase ensuring that Brentwood gained some 70 metres. Woodford, as they had all day, defended Brentwood's maul well and won the taken in, didn't come out turnover but James White managed to snag the Woodford 8 from the resultant scrum and another harried clearance came Brentwood's way. James Vogel brought the ball back forcibly, Joe McMillan taking it on further followed by Dan Suttle, whose arrival from the bench had already made a hefty impact to Brentwood's carrying power. Brentwood again had a free play due to penalty advantage and pulled their most fluid attack of the day out of the bag, James White making the half break and somehow getting the ball away to the supporting Toby Tierney. Toby in turn took the ball on before offloading to George Bassenger who pulled the ball back inside to Tijde Visser. He was tackled but Brentwood were now pouring forward, the ball popped off the floor to Leo Friswell who was stopped just short of the line, Matt Whaley and Dan Suttle working in tandem to crash the ball up once more before Tijde Visser again added his power to the proceedings. Whilst he was again stopped short, Brentwood's power play had done the damage. With enough of the Woodford defence sucked in, James White could go down the blindside with the pass to Thomas Lucas Roast who held the last defender expertly, getting the final ball away to Ed Hornby to score in the corner again. Thomas Lucas Roast's excellent touchline conversion added the extras, 6 - 22 to Brentwood.

With only a few minutes left to play, Brentwood, the league's most prolific team at scoring 3 tries (again, not an official stat) tried hard to go for the fourth and bonus point. Playing from the shadow of their own posts it looked like it might even be on, a bustling run from Sam Kendall nearly escaping the clutches of the Woodford defence and the forwards piling up the middle again making good ground. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be, the game ending with Brentwood taking 4 points from the encounter.

Whilst a scrappy affair, Brentwood will be pleased to come away with the win from a game that could easily have got away from them. The attack did not fire quite as it has in previous weeks, largely because Woodford defended well and worked hard to disrupt Brentwood, but they will also know that the unforced error count needs to be lower next week. On the other hand, Brentwood will very pleased with their defensive effort, Woodford having ample opportunity to score but unable to cross the line, and excellent defensive work being the starting point for all three of Brentwood's tries.

Brentwood's win and both Southend and Old Haberdashers losing sees them stay in 2nd in the league by 2 points as they reconvene next week at King George's for the top of the table clash against North Walsham.
North Walsham are this season's runaway leaders having only been beaten once this season and also accruing a try bonus point in all 15 of their other wins.
Brentwood endured a fairly torrid time in the reverse fixture in October and will be hoping to give a better account of themselves this time round but, they will certainly need to be at the top of their game if they are to inflict North Walsham's second defeat.