For the penultimate game of the season, visiting a murky King George’s this week was 8th placed Rochford who were on the upward trajectory having won four from their previous five. Brentwood had won the away fixture in gale force conditions but knew they’d have to dig deep to win this one too.

Kicking off down the hill, it didn’t start well for a Brentwood team who are pretty literally limping towards the end of the season; Luke Watson the latest to succumb to an innocuous injury in Brentwood’s very first attack of the game and being helped from the field with less than four minutes played…Brentwood did rally but, after a couple of attacks had broken down in Rochford’s 22, soon found themselves on the back foot and under pressure in their own 22.

Initially Brentwood defended well but then a few too many penalties started creeping in, the final of which was from a Rochford tap from 5 metres out and saw a bemused Jack Guest yellow-carded for what was actually an Eamon Tiernan indiscretion…However, in the same play Louis Payne also took a blow to the head for a ruck entry that the referee deemed dangerous play resulting in Rochford seeing red and Brentwood awarded the penalty which they used to clear their lines.

Two quick penalties later and Brentwood found themselves just outside of Rochford’s 22 with the referee brandishing another yellow at Rochford and, after a lot of faffing trying to get someone from Rochford to leave the pitch, Ewan May kicked three points to give Brentwood the first points of the day with 15 minutes gone, 3-0.

Despite the numerical advantage though, Brentwood were struggling to get their hands on the ball, Rochford keeping possession well and forcing Brentwood into kicking it back to them from deep when they did have it. It took until about the 25th minute for Brentwood to finally find a bit of fluency, started from a penalty won by Eamon Tiernan getting over the ball at the breakdown on Brentwood’s 22. Ewan May found a good touch just past Rochford’s 10 metre line and Brentwood’s somewhat haphazard lineout secured the ball, Jack Mayes, Will McArthur and Dan Suttle trucking it up tight to make further ground. Wide it then went to the backs, Tom Walker’s long pas finding Alex Roberts in a bit of space before he found Ewan May back on the inside. The ruck was scrappy but a combo of Jack Guest and Alfie Adams recovered well to ensure the ball remained Brentwood’s, Dan Suttle and Kieran Ballinger carrying further before Eamon Tiernan spotted a gap down the side of the ruck and broke through, finding Kieran on his shoulder in support who drew the tackle of the last man, popping the ball back inside to Eamon who had the speed to escape the cover and get over for the try. Ewan added the conversion, 10-0.

Brentwood had now found a bit of momentum and when Louis Payne roly-polyed his way out of the 22 from the restart and broke downfield, the supporting Dan Suttle nudging the ball on with the boot and regathering deep in Rochford’s 22, Brentwood poured forward and were awarded another penalty which went into the corner. The move though broke down allowing Rochford to clear before then acquiring another yellow card for their collection and giving Brentwood another penalty. The lineout malfunctioned but a big scrum won the ball and another penalty back and Brentwood tried again, this time from 5 metres out. This time the lineout to Jack Guest did work and the maul was strong, stopping just short of the line. Kieran Ballinger dug the ball out and Eamon Tiernan crashed on one further, recycling before Louis Payne had the strength to get over the line, Ewan May’s extras extending Brentwood’s lead to 17-0.

Rochford hit back immediately with their first points of the day after Brentwood had been turned over at the restart, opting to take a 3-pointer in front of the posts to make the score 17-3 but 5 minutes later Brentwood cancelled it out, Ewan May adding another 3 after a monster Brentwood scrum had won a penalty on Rochford’s 10 metre line, 20-3, which is how the score remained after an eventful if stop-start first half.
Brentwood’s second half didn’t start according to plan either with Alfie Adams seeing yellow card number four of the day with a minute gone. However, 5 minutes later, Brentwood added a chaotic third try when the ball went loose from Rochford, Will Attridge punting it into some space behind, Liam Power’s chase causing the defender to fumble the ball before Will regathered only to be tackled short of the line but with Liam the first to arrive, grab the ball and dive over, 25-3.

Rochford though were starting to gain the ascendancy in open play and the touchline pundits were in agreement that the longer Brentwood could keep them out the better as in the event that they got over the whitewash it was unlikely to be just the once…Unfortunately for Brentwood, the try arrived about 8 minutes later via a clean break straight through the midfield and a simple pass to go under the posts, 25-10.

As predicted, four minutes later came a second; this time from a Brentwood penalty which gave Rochford the opportunity to put the ball in the corner, the maul being set well before one additional carry saw them over the line 25-17. It took another ten minutes for Rochford to score their third, a break down the wing which went back inside and was bundled over, 25-24 and with about 15 minutes to play this one was going down to the wire…

With ten minutes to go Rochford took the lead for the first time in the game, taking three points from a kickable penalty to take the score to 25-27 before Brentwood regained the lead three minutes later with a penalty of their own from the boot of Will Attridge, 28-27 but still another 7 minutes or so to play…

Rochford kept coming but Brentwood were defending like troopers, players clearly emptying the tank getting back across the pitch to make tackles until a Rochford knock on was finally forced on the ten metre line with barely any time to go…Of course scrums are always a controversial beast and this one was to be no different, Brentwood conceding a penalty on their own put in which was well within kicking distance…Rochford duly pointed to the sticks and surely this was last chance saloon but apparently not…the ball drifted wide and there was still time for the drop-out from which, somehow, Brentwood conceded a penalty for purportedly being offside…And if you would like to know why your normally stressed but cheery match reporter was slightly aggrieved by this I’ll let you look up law 12.19 yourself…Rochford’s kicker stepped up once again, he wasn’t going to miss twice (and absolutely fair play to do it under pressure), 28-30 and full time.

For Brentwood, this was a pretty gutting way to lose and one where the 18 who played gave it their all as clearly shown by the bodies strewn across the pitch at fulltime. Credit to Rochford who played some of the best attacking rugby from an opponent that we have seen at King George’s this season but disappointing for a Brentwood team who looked like they had gutsed it out.

Brentwood have a week of recovery for Liane to attempt to patch up enough of the only slightly wounded to field a team before Brentwood play their final game of the season against Woodford at King George’s on 5th April. Brentwood ran out winners by 35 points to 10 in the away fixture and could still finish the season in third but will likely need a bonus point win to give them a fighting chance.