In the pack Jack Richards unavailability saw a start for Leo Friswell at prop with Joe McMillan moving across to hooker and Harry Adams coming on to the bench. In the backs last week's man of the match Ed Hornby couldn't quite shake a knock picked up against Woodford and was replaced at fullback by Sam Cappaert, a product of the Brentwood youth system who had returned to the club midweek and was making his first team debut - and what a game to pick!

Brentwood started the game up the slope and with the sun in their eyes so it was a relief to all in Brentwood bobble hats, especially those who had been at Woodford the week previously, when the kick off was regathered and hoofed straight back into touch, exit completed.

Brentwood's good start continued when, after a period of strong defence saw North Walsham driven back, they won two penalties in quick succession and earned themselves the throw into a lineout in the corner. The ball was well taken at the front and Brentwood quickly set up the maul, rolling it towards the try line, and North Walsham were only able to stop it short illegally. Brentwood opted for the same again from the penalty, but this time North Walsham got their jumper up just enough to make Brentwood's ball untidy. Forced to reset and change tact, Brentwood tried to battle forward through carries from both forwards and backs but couldn't make inroads into North Walsham's solid defence and eventually the knock on was forced and North Walsham could clear.

Brentwood were frustrated further from the next passage of play; more tight defence had kept North Walsham around the Brentwood 22 but the need to get off the line quickly to make the hits saw Brentwood's backs just creep offside. North Walsham opted for the posts from the central penalty and made no mistake to take the first points of the game largely against the run of play, 0 - 3.

North Walsham's lead, however, did not last long. Brentwood worked hard to turn the ball back over from the restart and after North Walsham fumbled a probing kick Brentwood had the attacking scrum. Also looking to get the big hits in, this time North Walsham's backs strayed offside. Thomas Lucas Roast took the points on offer to bring the sides level, 3 - 3.

From the restart Brentwood again exited well (what a novelty!), James White on hand to regather and put in the clearance. The lineout was won by North Walsham and following a brief maul to tie in the forwards it was out to North Walsham's rapidly accelerating backs. They looked to have made the initial break, but Brentwood's defence held firm once again, Adam Thomas planting himself over the ball to win the holding on penalty and relieve the pressure. Unfortunately, Brentwood couldn't take advantage of the penalty and were pinged themselves for holding on in the following passage of play giving North Walsham the impetus once more.

North Walsham came at Brentwood again from the lineout, running hard and fast in the backs, but were well marshalled into touch only for Brentwood to again lack fluency in the lineout and put themselves under pressure once more. With the backs rushing to get back into defensive alignment, North Walsham made a bust through the middle, but Thomas Lucas Roast made an excellent lassoing tackle around the ankles to nullify the burst. James White was on hand to sweep up the follow up chip kick and dot down for the 22 drop out - an excellent scrambling effort.

The next passage of play saw Brentwood repel North Walsham around their 22 once more and win another penalty, only to immediately concede the penalty to North Walsham once again. This time though it was Brentwood's turn to disrupt the lineout, George Bassenger being launched at the front with his lanky limbs proving an off-putting enough obstacle to cause the overthrow. Brentwood were first to the loose ball and it was crashed up the blindside by James Killington and then James White with Tijde Visser and Toby Tierney taking it up the open again, all making good ground.
From the resulting ruck, James White got it out to Thomas Lucas Roast who took the ball flat to the line before finding Adam Thomas on the switch back inside. The North Walsham defence, like most, expected crash ball - Adam has most certainly never been accused of being a distributing centre, but Brentwood had other plans. Coming from deep, Sam Cappaert timed his run perfectly to take a deft, rare pass from Adam Thomas and slice straight through the middle of the North Walsham defence and find himself cruising into open space. With two North Walsham defenders remaining he drifted expertly towards the middle of the pair before pulling a wicked step out of the locker to go on the outside and sprint up the wing, running round under the posts to score a cracker of a debut try. Thomas Lucas Roast added the extras, 10 - 3 to Brentwood.

Brentwood again took the restart well, but it wasn't long before North Walsham were in possession again, driving into a Brentwood defence that was refusing to budge. After multiple phases it looked as though they'd managed to orchestrate some space but Sam Cappaert snuffed out the attack with a good tackle and Brentwood drove North Walsham back once more but ultimately ended up conceding a penalty for offside, the referee deeming the line speed in the centres to have been a little too nifty. North Walsham again took the points on offer, 10 - 6 to Brentwood.

As the half drew towards its close North Walsham were again on the attack but Brentwood's defence was impressive across the board, Charlie Wilkinson with an important intervention on one wing before Sam Kendall made another crucial tackle on the other side of the field. The front row of Leo Friswell, Joe McMillan and Tijde Visser were also getting through a plethora of tackles and North Walsham's sustained attack was finally curtailed when Matt Whaley got over the ball and proved to be an immovable object in spite of North Walsham's best efforts to shift him.

North Walsham had one final attack before half time, but Brentwood again kept them out. A challenging kick to the corner was well marshalled by Sam Cappaert and cleared, George Bassenger with the big follow up tackle to dislodge the ball and earn the scrum. The successful scrum saw the ball cleared once more and whilst Brentwood weren't always enjoying their own lineouts, Tijde Visser's one man lift on George Bassenger at the front was proving fruitful on North Walsham's put in, another nicked lineout allowing Brentwood to kick the ball out and go in ahead at the break.

The second half kicked off with Brentwood now playing downhill, Thomas Lucas Roast sending a long kick return deep into North Walsham territory. The bobbling ball was regathered by North Walsham and returned by the way of an innocuous looking up and under that didn't appear to quite have the desired distance on it. Unfortunately, this caused chaos in the Brentwood ranks, the chasing forwards already having run past it and the backs having dropped for a longer kick. The ball was allowed to drop and bounce, always dangerous, and North Walsham were first to get a boot to it and hack it on. The ball ricocheted around again, the cruel bounce evading another diving Brentwood defender and North Walsham could boot it on one final time, outpacing the Brentwood cover to regather and score. The try was converted 10 - 13 to North Walsham.

North Walsham were visibly pumped from getting across the whitewash and were straight back at Brentwood again from the restart, Brentwood though continued to defend manfully and were doing well to not let the disappointment of conceding affect their composure. Things then went from bad to worse when the influential Adam Thomas had to be unceremoniously carried from the pitch by his colleagues in the front row, too hamstrung to even walk off the field (or indeed to the clubhouse after...#PrayforSponge). Brentwood were forced to reshuffle, Colby Dobson joining the fray at fullback and Sam Cappaert moving to 12.

The momentum really felt as though it had shifted in North Walsham's favour for the ensuing period of play, a couple of Brentwood penalties allowing them to advance up field quickly and earn the throw into the lineout 5 metres out. There was a feeling that another try here could well be game over so it was an almighty relief to all those cheering for Brentwood when Brentwood's lithe jumpers prospered again, the stolen lineout ball allowing Sam Cappaert to clear as far as the 22. North Walsham took their own lineout this time, but the ball was lost in midfield and retrieved on the Brentwood side. With North Walsham looking to get back in position, Tijde Visser needed no invitation to pick the ball up and go on a rampaging run downfield, skittling one defender and needing a further two to bring him down and with his support following strongly Brentwood were awarded the offside penalty.

With plenty of time still left to play, Thomas Lucas Roast opted for the posts, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced back in to play. Although this meant that Brentwood did not level the scores, North Walsham were unable to regather cleanly and a knock on in the shadow of their own posts gave Brentwood the 5-metre attacking scrum. Brentwood's scrum was strong and drove North Walsham back and with the flankers unbound, the backs offside and someone not rolling in the ensuing ruck Brentwood were awarded a penalty and a North Walsham player was sent to the bin for 10 minutes. Based on the previous one, Brentwood opted for the scrum again but were left baffled when a penalty was immediately awarded against them and North Walsham were able to clear. Brentwood also lost James White to a potential concussion during these phases and with the one backs substitute already used Dan Suttle came on with Toby Tierney having to move from backrow to centre, Thomas Lucas Roast switching to scrum half and Sam Cappaert moved to his third position of the day at flyhalf.

North Walsham played out the sin bin period wisely, keeping possession well away from their own try line, and Brentwood were drawn into a bit of aerial ping pong which neither side really benefited from. With both defences unwilling to give an inch, play was largely in the middle of the field, any half chance from either team quickly extinguished and the game grew quite cagey as it headed towards the final ten minutes.

It was Brentwood who finally broke the defensive deadlock. Dan Suttle took a lineout well between halfway and the 10-metre line and Brentwood set the maul which gained traction and made metres down the field. When the ball came out Charlie Wilkinson burst on to it, crashing through a couple of tackles and it looked like he was going to make the try line, only to just be dragged down short by an impressive last-ditch tackle. From then on Brentwood laid siege to the North Walsham 22, Tijde Visser getting within centimetres with a drive for the line and North Walsham accruing another yellow card in the process. Brentwood opted for a scrum 5 from the penalty, Sam Cappaert nearly sneaking over and George Bassenger just not able to fall the right way to stretch for the line. With time nearly up North Walsham defended incredibly and finally won a holding on penalty and with it the game, Brentwood so close to a last gasp victory but ultimately denied.

The game proved that you don't need a shed load of points scored to have an enthralling game in what was a titanic battle of two very disciplined defences. For Brentwood there are a lot of positives to be taken; this the first win in which the league leaders have been denied a 4 try bonus point being a real testament to how hard everyone worked for the full 80 minutes and North Walsham's celebrations at the end an indication of the test Brentwood had put them through. North Walsham now sit 20 points clear at the top of the league, whilst mathematically possible their lead looks pretty unassailable and we wish them the best in the league above next year.

With Colchester beating Southend, Brentwood drop to third and joint with Old Haberdashers on 57 points, 2 points off second place and only 2 above 5th - the battle for second place well and truly on with any team down to Sudbury in 8th still in with a shout.

This week Brentwood head to long standing rivals Chingford with the body count from this week meaning others will get a chance to step up and put a marker down for their place in the 1st XV. Chingford have struggled a bit this season and currently sit in 10th place but games between the pair have been fierce in recent years and there is no doubt that Brentwood will need to be at the top of their game again if they want to come away with a win.