Following last weekend’s victory against Wymondham, Brentwood were once again at King George’s this Saturday for the visit of Braintree. Brentwood had eventually run out winners by over twenty points in the away fixture, but Braintree had stuck close until the sixty minute mark and shown that they were very capable of producing some good tries; another strong showing would be needed to back up last week’s performance.

Playing down the slope for the first half, Brentwood started well if a little inaccurately; dropped catches and some unsympathetic passing stalling attacks in an opening 15 minutes where they had the majority of both territory and possession. Just before the twenty-minute mark, the pressure finally paid off when James Killington got a disruptive hand to a Braintree lineout and Eamon Tiernan was able to nab the loose ball. George Bassenger, James Stevens and Jack Mayes took the ball up for three quick carries before debutant Jake Bedding found Niall Clifford coming in on the crash, going straight through the attempted tackle and reaching for the line to score the try under the posts. Tauren Henwood added the conversion, 7-0.

It was then Braintree’s turn to begin edging the territory and possession stats, some smart kicking pinning Brentwood back and forcing Brentwood into long periods of defence and a few too many penalties. Eventually though, Brentwood’s defence began to get on top, a period of strong, committed tackles forcing Braintree back from the 22 to the ten-metre line before a Jack Mayes rip in the tackle saw possession back in Brentwood’s hands. Eamon Tiernan was alert to the opportunity, taking the pop pass from Jack and accelerating downfield; Jake Bedding, Tauren Henwood, Niall Clifford and Liam Power all combining well to take play into Braintree’s 22 and with a penalty conceded, Brentwood could put the ball towards the corner. Andy Sutton found George Bassenger at the front and the maul was set, trundling both forwards and a bit sideways until the ball was retrieved, James Stevens taking it up one further before Andy Sutton went in for the ruck clear out, realised there was no one at home and picked the ball up to scurry straight through the gap and to the try line for Brentwood’s second. Tauren Henwood added the extras, 14-0.

Two minutes later Brentwood added a third after Braintree’s restart had gone out on the full, giving them a scrum on the halfway line. The build-up play was lovely, Eamon Tiernan and Jake Bedding interlinking off the back of the scrum with Niall Clifford hitting the line at speed to slice straight through and take play beyond the ten-metre line. Tauren Henwood, Jack Mayes and Will McArthur crashed it up a few metres further before Tauren Henwood found George Bassenger on the inside line, galloping down to the 22 before getting the pass away to James Stevens who was brought down inches from the try line. With the ball then prevented from coming back illegally by Braintree, Brentwood were awarded a penalty which they didn’t mess around with, Jake Bedding tapping quickly to Jack Mayes who threw the long pass over the top to Andy Sutton moonlighting as a winger and diving in at the corner, 19-0.

With less than five minutes of the half to go, it would have been nice for Brentwood to go in with a solid lead but low and behold, the try just before half time struck again…In fairness, it was the kind of try from the opposition that you can only applaud, a strike move off the back of a scrum on Brentwood’s ten metre line seeing Braintree move the ball really well and shred Brentwood’s defence which, until then, had looked pretty comfortable, good support play outgunning Brentwood’s cover and reducing their lead to 19-5. Half time and suddenly the panel of touchline pundits were a little nervous that there may be more of that to come in the second half…

The stress levels did start to creep up then when the second half did start in slightly iffy fashion for Brentwood, Braintree with some early possession and territory but Brentwood defended solidly enough; some lineout pressure forcing a Braintree error at a crucial point before a holding on penalty allowed Brentwood to clear to just beyond halfway.

Back on the attack, Brentwood were patient from the lineout, undertaking various phases from the right side to the left side of the field before the ball came swiftly back to the right via the backline. Tauren Henwood, Niall Clifford and Luke Watson combined to set Isaac Kibirige free taking play into the 22 before getting the ball away to Liam Power who did well to stay infield and was tackled about a metre out. Brentwood’s ball was quick, James Stevens with one more crash at the line before Luke Watson took the secondary crash, rolling himself out of the tackle enough to get the ball on the try line because if your hooker is pilfering the wingers’ tries two can play that game…Tauren Henwood knocked over another two, 26-5.

Ten minutes of scoreless play then elapsed, the majority of which was played in the middle of the field with a fair few errors from both teams until Brentwood began to gain the upper hand again, Braintree giving away too many penalties which culminated in a yellow card and a Brentwood penalty in the 22. This time, Brentwood opted for the scrum and the pack carried out their part of the bargain, getting a big nudge on and barging forwards. With penalty advantage, the ball spat out of the back, Jake Bedding collecting it well from his toes before firing it to Isaac Kibirige who had plenty to do but made it look easy, stepping through three tackle attempts for another lethal finish in the corner. Tauren Henwood hit another lovely conversion, 33-5.

With ten minutes of the game left, Braintree once again proved clinical from first phase off the set-piece, this time another well taken try directly from the lineout, scoring in the opposite corner having moved the ball across the field quickly and accurately 33-10.

Brentwood had a sixth try in them which was scored three minutes later having won the ball back at the restart after Tom Fahy had got under a hanging Isaac Kibirige drop kick and, several phases later, a penalty allowed them to punt the ball towards the corner. Andy Sutton to George Bassenger at the back worked well once again, Will McArthur taking the pass to steam round the tail and make a big dent. James Stevens and George Miles made further heavy inroads, Liam Power wiggling close and Andy Sutton following up before Brentwood’s backs swung left having spied that Braintree had got a bit narrow, Tauren Henwood with the looping pass to Alex Roberts to give him the outside edge he needed to continue his prolific try scoring form, taking the defender over the line with him for his 11th of the season. Tauren Henwood rounded off a good afternoon off the tee with the touchline conversion, 40-10.

Braintree though were to score the final points of the game after James Killington had been sent to the naughty step for an infringement too close to the try line. The resulting penalty was tapped and although Niall Clifford, who had defended with all the subtlety of an Exocet missile all afternoon crunched his final victim for the day, Brentwood were caught short at the side of the ruck, 40-15 and full time.

For Brentwood this was another solid win and pleasing to back up last week’s gutsy performance with another good defensive showing against a Braintree team who move the ball well. The league now takes a break for week before it’s time to bring your significant other along for a romantic afternoon in a muddy field as Brentwood make the short journey to Chelmsford on Valentine’s Day. Chelmsford are currently 9th in the league having won 5 of their games so far this season, two of which have come in the last two rounds. Brentwood won their home fixture 33-15 in an odd game that saw them score all their points in the first half and then look like they’d never met each other before in the second…Brentwood will need to bring their form of the last couple of weeks if they want to make it a third win in a row.