Brentwood back to winning ways…
With Spring arriving at King George’s, a decent crowd gathered to watch Brentwood take on a Thurrock side who had claimed a narrow 2 point victory in the reverse fixture earlier in the season. Following a cohesive performance against Colchester, Brentwood named an unchanged backline but made a few tweaks in the pack; in the front row Neil Venables came in at hooker and a backrow rejig saw Matt Whaley rotated to the bench, captain James Vogel moving to blindside flanker to accommodate Toby Tierney starting at number 8 and George Bassenger returning to the team at openside. Charlie Parker and Colby Dobson were also named as substitutes to complete the 18-player match day squad.
Brentwood started strongly up the infamous slope with an early penalty and the subsequent long touch finder from Jamie Cox putting Brentwood in the right area of the field. The backrow were enjoying a bulldozing start as a trio – James Vogel, George Bassenger and Toby Tierney all making yards through strong carries and clever interlinking amongst themselves and, having pulled Thurrock’s defence in, the ball was whipped out left to Alex Wilson on the wing who did well to draw the last defender on the 22 and get the pass back inside to George Bassenger. With the chasing Thurrock cover hot on his heels, George had just about enough pace to get to the try line and ride the covering tackle to score the game’s opening try in the corner. With the conversion attempt hitting the post, Brentwood took a 5-0 lead.
Thurrock came straight back at Brentwood and enjoyed their longest period of possession in the game thus far but, after some stern defence, Jamie Cox provided a booming clearing kick back up field to relieve the pressure. Brentwood’s endeavours were further rewarded when Fraser Parris won two holding on penalties in midfield in quick succession, the second of which Jamie Cox converted into 3 points, 8-0 Brentwood.
However, it wasn’t long before Thurrock got themselves on the scoreboard. A short restart caused confusion amongst the Brentwood ranks which allowed Thurrock to regather possession and, having worked their way downfield through a series of line breaks, Brentwood conceded an offside penalty and 3 points. Another 3-pointer followed for Thurrock almost straight away when the restart was returned via a Thurrock boot and Brentwood were deemed to be holding on, 8-6.
Brentwood extended their lead once again with Thurrock down to 14 men after an off the ball tackle saw a yellow card brandished. A concerted period of pressure in Thurrock’s half ended with a knock on but then Neil Venables produced one of the rarest things you will see on a modern rugby field – a hook against the head! Toby Tierney took advantage of the unprepared Thurrock defence to crash the ball up, where it was quickly recycled and through another two fast phases from James Vogel and George Bassenger before Jamie Cox shifted it wide to Ewan May who dummied the last man to go over for the score. The conversion just missed left, 13-6.
The remainder of the half belonged to Thurrock with only a great double tackle from Joe Gill and Ewan May halting a threatening counterattack following a Brentwood knock on. Shortly after, a long-range penalty effort missed before a Thurrock burst through the middle was only denied by a try saving tackle from Ewan. Unfortunately for Brentwood though, it was too close to Brentwood's line and Thurrock recycled quickly to their supporting players who bundled over in the corner. The touchline conversion attempt missed, 13-11 which is how the score remained at half time.
Brentwood restarted the 2nd half down the slope and soon got the scoreboard going once more - Jamie Cox adding another 3 points following a Thurrock ruck infringement after Tyler Ford had skipped through a couple of tackles to get in behind the defensive line. Their third try followed swiftly after when a cute kick towards the corner from Ewan May forced Thurrock to concede a 5-metre lineout. The ball was thrown straight over the top (in what looked suspiciously like an overthrow, but we'll pretend it went exactly as planned...) and landed straight in James Vogel's arms. Spotting a gap, James took the opportunity brilliantly, stepping a couple of last-ditch tackles on his way to the try line for a great finish. The try remained unconverted, 21-11.
Of course, in true Brentwood fashion, just as they had given themselves a bit of breathing space they conceded again almost immediately; the visitors putting together a sweeping move up the touchline culminating in a great team try. It wasn't a day for conversions for either team, 21-16.
Jamie Cox recouped some of Brentwood's lead with an excellent long range 3 points after George Bassenger was quickest over the ball from the restart to take the score to 24-16 but it began to appear that the third try hoodoo had struck again for Brentwood as they found themselves under all sorts of Thurrock pressure. A series of extended assaults on the Brentwood try line saw Dan Suttle yellow carded for a deliberate knock on but somehow Brentwood managed to weather the storm; a big 7-man shove at the scrum from the remaining forwards forcing Thurrock to ship the ball into their isolated midfield where Jamie Cox pounced to win the turnover penalty and clear Brentwood's lines.
The momentum had shifted back to Brentwood now and they scored the elusive fourth try after some clever kicking from the half backs. Jamie Cox first kicked the ball deep into the left corner and when Thurrock elected to try and run back the ball was pilfered in contact. Tom Lucas-Roast spotted a lot of space in the left corner and put in a well weighted box kick, Fraser Parris haring after it to win the footrace and score the try. The conversion just slid wide, 29-16.
There was still plenty of time left though and Thurrock were most certainly not about to give up, hitting back with another good team try from patient build up to pull the score back to 29-21.
Things then really started to look hairy for Brentwood when Toby Tierney copped a team yellow for repeated infringements and then, from the very next play, they also lost Colby Dobson to the bin alongside a Thurrock player after some shenanigans when retrieving the ball from the touchline.
In a hot headed final 5 minutes of 13 vs 14 that saw both teams trying to wrestle back the upper hand, it was Brentwood’s forwards who dug deep to see out the game – disrupting a Thurrock lineout before two massive scrums earned them the ball back, a final penalty allowing Tom Lucas-Roast to tap the ball and boot it out for a hard-fought victory.
Brentwood will be pleased to come away with a bonus point win from what was a physical, bruising encounter and will dust themselves off for next week when they take on 13th placed Leighton Buzzard at King George's. Brentwood won the reverse fixture 33-14 having been dominant in the first half but were held to a 0-0 draw in the second. They will also be mindful that amongst their 5 wins this season Leighton Buzzard have beaten both Eton Manor and Southend who sit directly above Brentwood in the league - another testing game to be expected!

By Becky Bassenger