Following the pre-Christmas defeat to Eton Manor (apologies for the lack of report, it would have endangered my festive cheer), Brentwood’s first fixture of 2025 was a long away trip to a chilly Wymondham. In the reverse fixture Brentwood had survived a Wymondham resurgence to run out 26-17 winners and knew it would be no easy task to get a win away.

It started with many scrums, I suspect because nobody could feel their hands, neither team able to retain the ball particularly well but it was Brentwood who got an early toehold in the game. Some Wymondham possession on halfway saw the ball come out of the ruck, Eamon Tiernan the quickest to react and pick the ball up before shrugging off the attempted tackle and tearing down the touchline to score from halfway, 0-5.

The score would remain that way until the 35th minute, something Brentwood would really come to rue having had ample opportunity to add to their score but too many inaccuracies at crucial times saw the ball knocked on, turned over and held up and whilst Wymondham were competing hard and causing a nuisance on the floor, Brentwood would have expected to put at least one of these opportunities away.
Brentwood’s fortunes got no better on the 35th minute when, having successfully disrupted a Wymondham lineout on the ten-metre line, the ball rocketed backwards putting Brentwood in all sorts of trouble, forcing them into defence 5 metres from the tryline. A harried clearing kick didn’t find touch and with Brentwood’s defensive line less of a line and more of a cluster Wymondham ran it back, Kieran Ballinger pulling a crucial tackle out to prevent the try but only delaying the inevitable when Wymondham burrowed over from the next phase, 7-5 with the conversion.

Thought that was the customary try before half time? It was not, that was still to come! It came from another Brentwood error; the ball being spilled after a good restart kick had given Brentwood the attacking opportunity and Wymondham launched another counterattack. A combination of Sam Cappaert, Kieran Ballinger and Ewan May initially scrambled well but with numbers pouring forwards Wymondham worked the overlap on the left to go over for their second and with the conversion it was suddenly 14-5 at half time.

The swiftest of half time turn arounds later (it was already starting to get dark!) and Brentwood started the second half in exactly the opposite fashion to what was required, the ball dropped again and Wymondham again going straight for the counter and you can probably see where this is going…Brentwood once again under the sticks after some slick handling from Wymondham, 19-5.

The theme of Brentwood’s day was really summed up about 7 minutes later when Eamon Tiernan went absolutely steaming through Wymondham’s line for a one on one with the last man only for the pass to go completely awry, Wymondham setting off on another blistering counter which saw them go the length for their 4th of the day and me question quite why I had decided the 4 hour round trip to stand in the freezing cold was a good idea…26-5.

There was still plenty of time left though and Brentwood dug in; Eamon Tiernan making a destructive break through the middle about 5 minutes later to set Brentwood up in Wymondham’s 22. Brentwood showed good patience, Alfie Adams, Andy Sutton and James Vogel making further hard yards before Kieran Ballinger spread the ball wide to Tom Walker who pulled in two defenders. Jack Richards stepped in at scrum half to find Jack Mayes wrapping round on the blindside before Alfie Adams followed up once more, the ruck leaving the blindside exposed for Kieran Ballinger to put Luke Watson in at the corner, 26-10.

Nine minutes later Brentwood added to their tally again when, from a Wymondham scrum in their own half, Sam Cappaert read play well and intercepted a Wymondham pass to run in unopposed under the posts. Sam also added the conversion, 26-17.

Unfortunately, the narrowing of the deficit was short lived, Wymondham winning the ball back at the restart to immediately give them back possession and territory. Brentwood’s initial defence was good, but they soon found themselves lacking in numbers out wide, Wymondham skipping through to score once more, 33-17.

With about 15 minutes to go but over two scores adrift and given that a lot of passes still weren’t sticking, it seemed unlikely that Brentwood could now salvage the game however, there were still bonus points available of which Brentwood secured one with 8 minutes to go from the fourth try. A Brentwood penalty was plonked in the corner and Brentwood’s lineout, which had been one of the few accuracies of the day, functioned well again, Andy Sutton finding James Killington to set up the maul which did its job, Andy getting over for the try, 33-24.
It was, however, Wymondham who would have the last say on the scoreboard adding a 3 pointer from a penalty to ensure there was no chance of Brentwood getting a losing bonus point too, 36-24 at full time.

For Brentwood this was always going to be a tough trip and one to probably draw a line under and forget about although that is not to detract from Wymondham whose counterattack was ruthlessly accurate and produced some impressive tries.

Next week Brentwood are back at home to face a Wanstead team who will also be looking to avenge their home in defeat in October at the hands of Brentwood – it gets no easier, or indeed warmer according to the weather forecast…Wanstead now sit in 6th just 3 points behind Brentwood in 5th and a win is imperative if Brentwood want to arrest the slump and not lose ground on the top 3.