With last week’s disappointing draw behind them, this week’s rearranged fixture saw Brentwood take on a Wymondham team who had leap-frogged them into third place in the league. Brentwood had won away earlier in the season in an impressive performance and would need to channel that same energy as they went looking for a much-needed home win to arrest the slump of form they’d found themselves in.

Brentwood received the kick off playing up the hill and it was a solid start; a nonchalant overhead take from Eamon Tiernan and good clearance from Lorcan Kelleher followed shortly afterwards by a massive Dan Suttle tackle which saw possession land back on Brentwood’s side. For the opening ten minutes possession and territory were predominantly Brentwood’s, but Wymondham’s defensive line was steadfast and coupled with some Brentwood inaccuracies, Brentwood were unable to convert into points on the board.

It was frustrating then that a Brentwood penalty in the Wymondham half allowed Wymondham to put an excellent long-range touch finder deep into Brentwood’s 22 giving them a great attacking position to launch from. With the lineout and maul accurate, Brentwood were on the defensive but could not get a hand on Wymondham’s difficult to tackle fullback who jinked through to open the scoring, 0-5.

The try had given Wymondham the impetus and they came again strongly from the restart, some hard running causing Brentwood all sorts of defensive issues as Wymondham got into Brentwood’s 22 once more. Initially Brentwood’s scrambling defence did well, forcing a knock on but getting the clearing kick to find touch again proved elusive, Wymondham running back against the broken field to great effect. A last-gasp diving tackle only just prevented the try but it was recycled quickly and Brentwood were unable to prevent it twice, 0-10.

Wymondham now had even more wind in their sails, and it was all starting to become one way traffic. With Wymondham kicking smartly to pin Brentwood back, Brentwood were struggling to escape and an awkward bobbling ball into the bottom corner forced Brentwood to slide into touch. Wymondham’s lineout was good, Brentwood’s maul defence was not with no one defending a wide channel on the openside which Wymondham were very happy to stroll through, 0-15. Twenty minutes in and whilst we’re all aware the slope is worth a few points, it was starting to feel like were Wymondham to add another it might be too much of a deficit to make up.

Brentwood though were not about to roll over and with Captain George Bassenger leading the charge quite literally, getting enough of himself in the way to charge down the clearing kick from the restart, Brentwood applied some pressure of their own. There were still a few too many unforced errors and whilst Wymondham’s defensive line was strong, they were starting to creak, giving away an increasing number of penalties. It took nearly twenty minutes of endeavour from Brentwood but with half time looming a penalty was booted towards the corner, the forwards with a maul rumble from the lineout which ploughed forwards and was pulled down illegally to give another opportunity but this time from 5 metres out. Brentwood went for more of the same, the maul again strong and with Wymondham again stopping it illegally the referee went under the posts for the penalty try and a yellow card, 15-7 and the half time whistle.

The six of you that read these reports regularly will know how I feel about the try just before half time omens and this one felt very important…With the pressure that Brentwood had been under for periods to go in only eight points down and with the slope in their favour for the second half, the try felt pivotal.

Brentwood came out for the second half fired up and with good pressure put on Wymondham’s clearing kick were able to get straight back onto the offensive from Wymondham’s ten metre line. Play was starting to look more cohesive, the lineout again providing a good platform before a couple of strong carries from debutant Sam Winney and Dan Suttle gave Brentwood go forward and Lorcan Kelleher then spotted a gap to take, skipping through to within five only for Wymondham to latch onto the offload. Brentwood though weren’t letting them escape the corner, Alex Roberts bundling the man into touch to give Brentwood the lineout and, after a knock on in the tackle in the phase after, Brentwood had the scrum. And what a scrum it was, a big shove seeing Brentwood win the penalty and scrum again. Hyped by the first one, the second scrum was even more aggressive, piling forwards and getting another penalty advantage before Kieran Ballinger opted to retrieve the ball and fling it to the blindside and Luke Watson who had a one on one and a lot of space which he gladly took, bouncing the tackler and scoring the try. Lorcan Kelleher knocked over a lovely conversion from out wide, 14-15.

With the game now finely poised, ten minutes of the two teams knocking lumps out of each other in the middle of the pitch elapsed, both teams with a couple of line breaks but neither able to outrun the other’s defence and convert into further points. Wymondham though made it into Brentwood’s 22 when two quick penalty concessions from Brentwood being too eager to try and get over the ball allowed them two successive kicks up field and put them in a dangerous position. The maul towards the line was strong and although Brentwood managed to stall its progress, they could not halt the strong crash line from the following phase, with the conversion 14-22.

Although now a two-score game, there was still ample time left and, in contrast to previous weeks, Brentwood’s heads did not drop, and they set about reducing the deficit once again. A long restart and a solid defensive set forced the error from Wymondham as they tried to exit the 22 and with possession back, Brentwood piled forwards through multiple phases until they were awarded a penalty mid-22.

James Killington tapped and went quickly, tackled a couple of metres out by a Wymondham player who hadn’t retreated ten and so with another penalty, Brentwood opted to scrum. It was another massive effort from Brentwood’s pack and with another penalty and Wymondham having a man sent to the bin, Brentwood went for some more of the same with another scrum. Another big shove came in from the Brentwood eight and, with another penalty advantage but the scrum collapsing and stopping any go forward, Brentwood played it out. It was crashed up by Sam Winney before being spun wide to Lorcan Kelleher who nearly stepped through but was pulled down just short, but Brentwood stuck at it and after a couple more short-range phases from the forwards, Jack Mayes was able to burrow over. 19-22.

With around fifteen minutes to go the Brentwood regulars buckled in for a stressful finish and there was still plenty of drama left…Wymondham were belligerent and came back at Brentwood immediately, some smart kicking getting them back up the slope and into Brentwood’s 22 but Brentwood’s defence held firm for multiple phases and when they did eventually work some space on the left to give one of their speedsters half a chance, Alex Roberts very firmly shut the door with a crunching tackle into touch for what was to be a crucial moment in the game.

Clearly buoyed by the defensive set, Brentwood’s exit was spot on; another accurate lineout, a strong maul to the edge of the 22 and a long clearing kick which bobbled, bounced and was difficult to regather, an Eamon Tiernan chop tackle allowing Brentwood to get over the ball and win a penalty on halfway. It started a period in which Brentwood battled ferociously to get to the whitewash but with Wymondham working just as hard to stop them and the odd inopportune error, Brentwood could just not get the crucial try that they needed.

The scrum though was proving to be a real handful which Wymondham had no solution to and with the lineout also working really well, Brentwood’s set piece was dominant. And it was from these two platforms that with time nearly up Brentwood got their final roll of the dice. It started with another scrum penalty, Brentwood able to put the ball into the 22 from the kick. Andy Sutton found James Killington and the maul, whilst messy, bundled forwards before Will McArthur crashed it up a bit further. Into the midfield it went, George Bassenger and Jack Mayes with two more carries to take it closer still and with the tension on the touchline off the scale, back it went to Eamon Tiernan who stepped off the right foot and into the narrowest of gaps to dive over by the posts; elation all round in Brentwood colours! And better still for the stress levels, there was only time left for the conversion which Lorcan Kelleher added, 26-22 and full time.

For Brentwood this was an excellent win against a very good Wymondham team. It was not the most polished performance of Brentwood’s season by any means but in the context of a run of disappointing results, it was an effort where they showed real character and determination to not give up until the very end and were rewarded for doing so.

Next week Brentwood are once again at King George’s for the visit of 9th placed Braintree. Brentwood ran out 47-19 winners in the away fixture back in October in a game that wasn’t as straightforward as the scoreline suggests and with Braintree only losing their last 3 fixtures by a single point against Wymondham and Rochford and two points against Chelmsford, they look to have now found their feet in this league; Brentwood will need to be at the same levels as this week if they want to win again in front of their home crowd.