With the promised Spring sunshine failing to materialise and the likelihood of an England defeat to come later in the day (now confirmed…), this week all eyes were on Brentwood to provide a bright spot on a grey Saturday as they welcomed 6th placed Harlow to King George’s hoping to make it a fifth consecutive win.

Kicking off and playing up the slope, Brentwood’s start was good, receiving the ball back from a clearing kick and setting about making their way up-field, an early opportunity from a Luke Watson chip and chase just knocked on in the attempt to regather near the try line. Brentwood’s pack though were looking to put the pressure on and keep Harlow pinned back from their scrum put in which worked to better effect than any of us could have imagined, winning the scrum against the head and marching their opponents backwards, Eamon Tiernan showing composure at the base to let the ball go over the line and flop on it for the try. Henry Bird added the conversion, 7-0.

Brentwood’s lead was short lived though, Harlow hitting back three minutes later via two clever kicks over the top in quick succession which Brentwood failed to deal with on both occasions, dotting down near the corner to pull the score back to 7-5 in what had been a fast opening ten minutes.

The pace of the game continued to be rapid, Brentwood immediately back on the offensive and working the ball well round the field, some hard yards from the likes of Dan Suttle, Sam Winney and George Miles eventually seeing Tauren Henwood find a mismatch, Jack Mayes battering on in support to take Brentwood into Harlow’s 22 where an infringement gave Brentwood the chance to kick to the corner. From the lineout Brentwood opted to maul, the rumble menacing until it stopped short just shy of the try line and with the ball stuck, scrum to Harlow. As Brentwood’s pack engaged, the regular touchline pundits mused whether or not lightning could strike twice…turns out it can! Another massive effort from the eight forwards seeing the ball won against the head again, Eamon Tiernan with the carbon copy flop on the ball over the try line, 12-5.

Brentwood’s third try followed swiftly afterwards, this time starting when Brentwood had successfully regathered Harlow’s attempted chip through on the 22. From the next phase George Miles busted through, offloading from the floor to Sam Winney in support who took play on further. Brentwood’s ball was quick, Will McArthur wearing a hefty tackle but pulling two defenders in, Jake Bedding then spotting Tauren Henwood with a bit of space on the large blindside which he took, ghosting between two before drawing the next man and getting the pass away to Luke Watson. Luke tore up the touchline, stepping past the first attempted cover tackle before riding the second for long enough to get the ball back to Tauren Henwood again, Tauren then pulling the last covering defender wide before getting the ball back inside to Jake Bedding who sprinted over for what was a lovely try. Henry Bird added the extra two, 19-5.

With only just over fifteen minutes of the game gone, it really had been quite the start and with both teams looking to play, it continued apace, Harlow adding their second try just after the twenty-minute mark. Brentwood had dealt with a long kick comfortably, dotting it down as it rolled over the try line however, defence from the goal line drop out continues to bamboozle, Harlow running it back and finding space on the left, a couple of quick offloads seeing them over the line, 19-12.

In stark contrast to the first quarter, the second quarter was completely scoreless although certainly not dull, both teams playing some good rugby but also defending well and so the score remained the same going into half time.

Now playing downhill and with a lead, the touchline pundits were hopeful that there would be no complacency going into the second half and Brentwood would carry on in the same manner as the first. It was pleasing then that seven minutes in, Brentwood got their bonus point try having worked really hard to turn defence into attack after a threatening Harlow line break had seen them make it up to Brentwood’s 22. Brentwood had defended aggressively through several phases, not allowing Harlow any go forward before a big Tom Walker hit on the wing saw a panicked offload go straight to Niall Clifford who carried strongly back to Harlow’s ten metre line. Brentwood were fast in support, the ball recycled quickly and out to Calvin Close who bashed it up the middle before a nifty passing combination of Will McArthur and Ewan May gave Isaac Kibirige a bit of space down the wing; the mud wasn’t stopping him this week, electric pace and a wicked step seeing him round the last man and into the corner for the try. Henry Bird was accurate from the tee again, 26-12.

Harlow weren’t about to give up though and hit back almost immediately, a Brentwood handling error after the restart giving them a scrum just outside the 22. From the scrum they carried hard into the midfield where two phases later, Brentwood were once again undone by a clever chip over, 26-19.

As ever, the stress started to creep in on the touchline but fortunately heads on the pitch were calmer and ten minutes later Brentwood added another having successfully kept the pressure on for a sustained period. A Harlow lineout had been overthrown, Jake Bedding nabbing the loose ball and taking play into Harlow’s 22 before finding Eamon Tiernan on the charge who, as ever, needed several defenders to bring him to ground. Brentwood’s ruck speed was impressive, the ball whipped out quickly from Jake Bedding to Tauren Henwood who found Niall Clifford with half a gap in front of him that he fancied, going between two and bundling through a third to score in the right corner, 31-19.

It was a lead Brentwood would not look back from, try number six added five minutes later with Brentwood having really found their attacking rhythm. A lineout on halfway was well tidied by Jack Richards before Brentwood tried their own little kick over from the boot of Jake Bedding, the ball hitting the deck and just sitting on the floor for a bit before Sam Winney decided it might be a good idea to pick it up…Brentwood recycled into the middle of the pitch, George Miles bumping through a couple before it went left and a large knock on from Harlow saw Tom Walker having to get his dustpan and brush out to tidy up and keep momentum going. George Miles and Eamon Tiernan made some more hard yards to get Brentwood’s go forward back before Tauren Henwood took the ball flat to the line, a lovely inside ball finding Henry Bird who steamed straight through drawing the man and passing to Jack Richards for the run in. Henry Bird’s conversion was successful, 38-19.

Try number seven followed soon after, after a big hit from Dan Suttle had seen the ball dislodged in the tackle and Brentwood awarded the scrum. Eamon Tiernan carried down the blind followed by Andy Sutton before Brentwood switched play back to the left, Tauren Henwood, Henry Bird and Niall Clifford with quick hands to free some room for Ewan May who had a little shimmy before offloading out of the tackle to Isaac Kibirige on Harlow’s ten metre line. My match day note for this one reads simply “Isaac is lightning” which I’d say is accurate for the way he scorched down the touchline, chipped ahead, regathered and scored like he was playing the game in 4x speed compared to everyone else. Henry Bird enjoys a conversion from the left touchline, 45-19.

Brentwood’s icing on the cake was scored with about five minutes left to play in one of those rarely seen ‘everyone has done everything right’ set moves off the back of the scrum midway between Harlow’s 10 metre line and 22. Brentwood’s pack won the ball cleanly, Jake Bedding firing the pass straight to Henry Bird who took it to the line before finding Tauren Henwood on the loop, Niall Clifford’s hard dummy line attracting the attention of the midfield. Tauren rounded the defence, pulling in his man to give Brentwood the two on one on the outside, Ewan May executing the final draw and pass perfectly to set Tom Walker off down the wing, evading the cover for a try straight off the training pitch, 50-19 with full time following soon after.

With both teams playing with attacking intent in a game that for large parts was very competitive, were you a neutral it was probably a good one to watch…of course I am very much not neutral and am only saying this with the benefit of hindsight! For Brentwood, this was a good win; a strong and clinical performance where they took their opportunities well and at times looked to be back to their best in terms of team fluency.

The league takes a break next week before Brentwood face one of their toughest away fixtures of the season, heading to second placed H.A.C. In the fixture at King George’s, Brentwood were disappointed with their performance in a game where they never really fired a shot and H.A.C. ran out deserving winners. With the venue now confirmed as being in the City rather than furthest West London and a decent mob of travelling support expected, Brentwood will need to maintain their form of past weeks if they want to make it a good day out for all involved (and if we could also avoid knocking the referee out and play more than ten minutes of the game, that would be great…).