This week saw the visit of another familiar opponent to King George’s in the form of Chelmsford. Chelmsford had had a mixed start to the season with three big wins and also two relatively large defeats but, having beaten Brentwood on their own patch last season, were always going to provide a significant challenge to Brentwood’s winning streak.

With the morning’s deluge having cleared to a lovely, sunny afternoon Brentwood kicked off up the hill in pink socks in honour of a successful Wear it Pink in aid of Breast Cancer Awareness Ladies Lunch hoping to put on another winning display for their prosecco-buzzed crowd.

For Brentwood the match actually started fairly well with a couple of early penalties giving them good field position from which to get into the game, but Chelmsford’s defence was well drilled; Brentwood’s only real opportunity in the first forays coming when Jamie Wyatt slipped a pass through the tackle to James Vogel but Chelmsford managed to hold him up over the line. Chelmsford though did continue to give away quite a few penalties in the face of Brentwood’s attacking efforts and, on the ten-minute mark, saw yellow for the accumulation.

Brentwood kept the pressure on, and Chelmsford’s defence was finally carved open when Liam Power made a sharp break round the fringes of a ruck in the middle third, taking play to within 5 metres from Chelmsford’s line. The ball was well retained by Brentwood and although possibly should have gone out about three phases earlier (easy to see from the touchline isn’t it…) was eventually spun wide where Brentwood still just about had a numerical advantage, allowing Eamon Tiernan to slide through on the inside shoulder of a defender and score Brentwood’s opener. Jamie Wyatt added the extras, 7-0.

It wasn’t long though before Chelmsford hit back, Brentwood guilty of trying to play a bit too much in their own half and Chelmsford snaffling the ball back via an interception to put Brentwood into defensive disarray. The initial scramble was good but did mean Brentwood found themselves suddenly very short on numbers on the right and, with Chelmsford immediately spotting the space, Eamon’s effort to get across and cover on the wing resulted in a high tackle and Brentwood’s first yellow of the day. 14 man Brentwood did well to start with, defending a couple of tap penalties and pushing Chelmsford back towards the 22 line but Chelmsford were patient and having stretched towards the touchline before a couple of strong carries through the middle, a loose pass flummoxed Brentwood and Chelmsford went over by the posts, with the conversion 7-7.

Brentwood’s response was rapid, a second try coming only three minutes later, starting when James Vogel made himself front-runner for emergency back’s sub and put in a delightful grubber kick from the ten metre line which found touch 5 metres from the Chelmsford try line. Brentwood doubled down on the opportunity, putting pressure on Chelmsford’s lineout and being rewarded when Liam Power nabbed the ball at the back. Brentwood crashed up a couple of times via the forwards before it was once again spun wide, this time Luke Watson managing to attract the attention of two defenders before getting the pass off to Ewan May who got it away to Colby Dobson in a fraction of space. Colby still had plenty to do but successfully evaded the cover to score in the corner, 12-7.

There were still ten or so minutes to play in the half and although Chelmsford had a fair amount of possession, Brentwood’s defence was solid and so the only further score was a Chelmsford penalty, 12-10 at half time.

In theory, you’d think Brentwood would play better down the hill but often this doesn’t seem to be the case…and, having been defensively sound for most of the first half found themselves napping from the restart – Chelmsford finding a huge amount of space wide to the right and tearing up the pitch to take themselves to within 5 before bundling over the line two phases later, 12-17.

Another poor start to the second half continued when Brentwood conceded again about ten minutes later with Chelmsford having been mostly in the ascendency, scoring under the sticks after some clever interplay had seen them make too much ground straight through the middle, 12-24 and confirmation that bottomless prosecco does not assuage the match reporter’s stress levels…

There was, however, still plenty of time left and Brentwood set about reducing the deficit – a good chase from the restart forcing a rushed clearance kick and giving them back good territory and possession immediately before a penalty saw the ball put into touch deep in Chelmsford’s 22. Brentwood were patient in building some phases before drawing another penalty, this time opting to tap it to Dan Suttle on the crash before Andy Sutton followed up and burrowed over the line, Jamie Wyatt’s conversion pulling the score back to 19-24.

It took Brentwood another ten to draw level; a lovely penalty touch finder from Jamie Wyatt and another well executed lineout from Andy Sutton to James Killington giving Brentwood the platform to launch from, eventually garnering another penalty very close to Chelmsford’s line. It was again tapped, the forwards having a few rumbles before it went wide, Ewan this time supplying the scoring pass to Luke Watson who dived in at the corner, 24-24.

Chelmsford though fired back and after Brentwood had conceded a penalty, slotted an excellent kick from wide to give themselves a slender lead back, 24-27 and it felt like there really couldn’t be much longer to play…

As it transpires, there was still plenty of time for drama, Brentwood again digging deep to get back down the pitch and it looked for all intents and purposes that a strong maul was going to surge over the try line only for the ball to be dropped at the critical moment. Chelmsford though didn’t find touch with a clearing kick, Brentwood coming again and with Luke Watson getting a run down the wing Chelmsford produced a tackle that was a clone of Eamon’s in the first half and were also shown yellow. The resultant penalty saw Brentwood put the ball in the corner and the lineout which had been excellent all day worked seamlessly again, Brentwood’s maul powering towards the line and, having been pulled down illegally, gave the referee little option but to award a penalty try and another yellow card, 31-27.

Somehow, there was still time left and even more remarkably in this time Brentwood also managed to gain two more yellow cards; firstly for James Killington after Brentwood had conceded about 6 penalties on the bounce and about 5 seconds later another for Luke Watson for what was deemed a cynical knock on. So, it was 13 apiece to finish the game and Chelmsford with one final roll of the dice which, fortunately for my frayed nerves, was ended by a forward pass and with that full time.

For Brentwood this wasn’t their finest performance of the last few weeks however, this is most certainly a game Brentwood of last season would have lost and the newfound confidence and grit to not only get back in the game but also see it out for the win are commendable.

Things get in no way easier next week as Brentwood head to Westcliff; the only other unbeaten team remaining in the league with the only minor blot to their copybook being an opening day draw with Wanstead. Brentwood haven’t played Westcliff for a few seasons now but historically as another Essex rival this has always been a competitive fixture and with Westcliff chasing promotion back into the league above this will be another big challenge for Brentwood.