With another good home win under their belts, this week Brentwood made the trip to newly promoted Braintree hoping to continue their 100% success rate on the road. Braintree had lost their opening four but with a first victory against Chelmsford the week prior would be keen to get another in front of their home crowd.

It started fairly brightly for Brentwood, under 5 minutes on the clock when Isaac Kibirige and Tom Walker conspired to take a quick lineout deep inside their own half, Tom first making good ground up the wing before returning the ball to Isaac who sped into Braintree’s half. It went wide quickly the other way, Brentwood stretching Braintree’s defence before Jack Mayes straightened up and crashed through the middle, Tauren Henwood spying half a gap to step through before waltzing straight through the middle and past the last man to score under the sticks. Henry Bird knocked the conversion over, 0-7 and a good start.

Braintree though came firing straight back, scoring their opening try less than two minutes later when a clever kick was chipped over Brentwood’s defensive line from the base of a ruck, landing straight in the arms of a well-timed run from an onrushing Braintree player who stepped Brentwood’s last man to go in at the corner, 5-7.

Six or so minutes later Brentwood struck again, a solid scrum on Braintree’s ten metre line giving them a platform to launch from which they took full advantage of, opting to set the backs lose with a quick pass from Kieran Ballinger to Tauren Henwood, Tauren coming back round on the loop to recollect the ball from Henry Bird to give Tom Walker some space to exploit. Tom took the ball on strongly, bursting past two before setting Isaac Kibirige free, Isaac hitting the accelerator to go flying past two tackles attempts and score in the corner. With Henry Bird also nailing the touchline conversion, 5-14.

The next 15 minutes were to be a bit frustrating for Brentwood; a try chalked off for a forward pass, and another knocked on by the line leaving them unable to add to their score before inaccuracies began to mount and the penalty count started creeping up. A holding on penalty saw an attacking attempt turn into a defensive set before another penalty allowed Braintree to get closer to the line still, Brentwood’s defence looking surprisingly placid by their usual standards, allowing Braintree to score by moving the ball down their back line directly off of first phase and pull the scoreline back to 12-14.

With Braintree starting to get a bit of momentum, Brentwood needed to get back to the other end of the pitch and fortunately Isaac Kibirige was on hand with another electric break up the wing which, although ended with a good tackle into touch, started a good period where Brentwood remained in Braintree’s half and applied some pressure of their own. The attack wasn’t quite firing on all cylinders, some good metre gains in the forwards via George Miles, Luke Dennis and Kannan Gaind undone by an errant pass which had to be mopped up by Henry Bird but sometimes from the wayward ones comes opportunity, the Tauren Henwood/Tom Walker kick telepathy working in perfect synchrony again; Tauren chipping the ball over for Tom to catch cleanly, drawing the defender before putting Isaac Kibirige in a lot of space with the pass. Isaac was once again off in full flight, getting the ball back to Tom Walker in the tackle where it was recycled for Jack Mayes to take it on further, Tom Fahy punching it up the middle before it went left, Tauren Henwood and Henry Bird combining to put Luke Watson in at the corner, 12-21 with another two from Henry’s boot.

Braintree were down but once again most certainly not out, replying with a try of the own only two minutes later in which Brentwood were undone for a second time by a clever kick over the defensive line. This time there was also a second kick on which completely baffled the three Brentwood defenders in the area, Braintree retrieving the ball to go in at the corner; an unwelcome reappearance from the try before half time concession with the additional non-bonus of Luke Dennis receiving a harsh yellow, 19-21, heavy sighs from the Brentwood touchline pundits and half time.

Fourteen-man Brentwood returned for the second half knowing the opening ten would be crucial to determining the winners of the game and swung momentum back in their favour with about six minutes gone. A penalty had given them a lineout on Braintree’s 10 metre line, Jack Mayes hitting a crash ball off the top before it went through a couple of phases in midfield and then Tauren Henwood lofted one to Luke Watson on the wing. Luke made good ground, the ruck ball quick for Kannan Gaind to charge on and continue the go forward before it was out to the backs, Tom Walker standing at first receiver, the pass allowing Henry Bird to slide between two defenders before flicking a lovely offload out the back to Niall Clifford. Niall straightened well and drew his man, getting the ball away to Isaac Kibirige who again had the kind of space he thrives in, putting the burners on and riding a tackle for a great finish in the corner for his second and Brentwood’s bonus point, 19-26.

This time though, Brentwood didn’t let Braintree reduce their lead, adding a fifth to the try count five minutes later when, after some scrappy play around the halfway line, George Miles, Kannan Gaind and Luke Dennis made three successive big dents in the midfield, attracting enough eyes to the ruck that Tauren Henwood was able to half nip through a gap and offload to Jack Richards. Jack went steaming through, fending one off and drawing a defender to get the pass away to the supporting Tom Fahy who had the pace to out flank the cover. Henry Bird added the extras, 19-33.

With a bit of breathing space, Brentwood were now looking more comfortable and a sixth came soon after, Tom Fahy nicking a Braintree lineout to set the wheels in motion before Brentwood went for some big rumbles straight through the middle, a little patience allowing space to open up on the right. Tauren Henwood ghosted across the line, an offload to Jack Richards coming back on a hard line setting him free, a wicked step getting him round the last man for the try which Henry Bird converted, 19-40.

With about twenty minutes still to go, it had been an effective third quarter for Brentwood who retained the ascendency for the game’s closing if not the points scoring momentum; a couple of opportunities squandered by the line and another one given as held up. They did add a seventh and final try midway through the final quarter though when a penalty was plonked in the corner for a lineout. The lineout was accurate and a maul set, the ball went to ground but was available for Kieran Ballinger to swing it out to the back line, a combo of Tauren Henwood and Henry Bird again creating space which Alex Roberts was happy to take, dragging the defender over the try line to be the third Brentwood winger of the day to score, another conversion from Henry Bird taking the score to 19-47 which is how it would remain at full time.

For Brentwood although this wasn’t their most cohesive performance, another good win on the road against a Braintree team who look to be finding their feet in this league and a dominant second half display where they got the job done.

Next week Brentwood welcome Chelmsford to King George’s. With 6 games now played the league is really heating up with only 7 points between first and sixth and Brentwood will be aiming for another victory on home soil to keep their first placed position. Chelmsford currently sit in 11th having not won a game yet this season, however, last season saw both the home and away fixtures go down to the wire, last gasp drama seeing Brentwood win both and Chelmsford will not be short on motivation to go for the win this time round.