Chelmsford 39 Brentwood 68
(London 1 North League)

This was an extraordinary game in which both sides scored some excellent tries, but the sad fact for Chelmsford was that they let their opponents bully them, especially in the first half, and even though they recovered well in the 2nd half, they were effectively outmuscled by a well organised Brentwood side, whose physical dominance in the forwards, plus the speed of their backs proved too much for the home side on the day. In all 15 tries were scored, 10 to Brentwood, but in scoring 5 tries themselves, Chelmsford came away with a vital bonus point in their bid to stave off relegation. Wins for both Ruislip and Chingford didn’t help Chelmsford’s cause, but with Barking losing, Chelmsford are now 4 points above the 3rd relegation spot.

When you come up against a side who are much physically stronger, then you must put your opponents down with first up tackling, sadly for Chelmsford this was a painful lesson, as too many tackles were missed and others made too high and as a consequence Brentwood were allowed too much space and found gaps in Chelmsford’s defence on too many occasions. An exception to this were the efforts of Chris Hoult, who played at No 8 in the absence of skipper Paul Redford, and he tackled his heart out, along with centre/wing, Dan Idundan, who saved at least two certain tries with last ditch tackles and was the pick of the Chelmsford backs.

Brentwood were on the score sheet first after just two minutes, when they scored an unconverted try by their left wing in the left hand corner to take them into a 5 – 0 lead. Shortly afterwards a great break by their outside centre from inside Chelmsford’s 22 should of lead to a try, but he was tackled by Dan Idundun. Not to be outdone here, Brentwood scored their 2nd try when they crashed over by the posts and with the successful conversion they now led 12 – 0. After 15 minutes Brentwood were penalised at the scrum and Chelmsford’s Simon Hoult made no mistake from 37 metres out to reduce the arrears to 12 – 3. Brentwood should have increased their lead minutes later, when they had the line at their mercy, but the ball was knocked on. They then made amends for this when they secured possession from a line out and a catch and drive saw them score their 3rd try and with the conversion they now led by 19 – 3.

At this stage Chelmsford were looking down and out, however, they were rewarded with a try from flanker, Robbie Edwards, when Brentwood dropped the ball from a line out, he picked it up the loose ball and beat 4 Brentwood tacklers to score a well taken try, which Simon Hoult converted to bring the hosts back to 19 – 10. At this stage Zane Manan replaced centre, Oli Wright, who retired with a muscle strain in his side. After 25 minutes Brentwood should have recorded their 4th try, but once again some poor handling let them down, however, 5 minutes later they did score when they crashed over by the posts after some flimsy Chelmsford tackling to increase their lead to 26 – 10. Just before half time they scored their 5th try and with the conversion now led by 33 – 10. On the stroke of half time, Brentwood were penalised for not rolling away and Simon Hoult was successful with his kick, taking the half time score to 33 – 13.

The 2nd half started in the same manner as the 1st with Brentwood scoring a try. Chelmsford attempted to fly hack the ball away in their own 22, but it ricocheted into the visitors hands and then after a few phases, a try was scored in the left hand corner and with the conversion Brentwood now led by 40 – 13. To their credit Chelmsford managed to score 4 tries in the 2nd half and coupled with 4 more tries from the visitors, honours were about even. A long pass out wide to right wing, Will Ferrier, saw him manage to score in the right hand corner, then from a kick off following a Brentwood try, the ball was hacked forward and full back Jamie Morrish won the chase to the line to touch down for a try, the next was a good individual effort from substitute Zane Manan and the last one, Chris Hoult broke from a scrum and forced his way over the Brentwood line. 3 of the tries were converted, two by Simon Hoult and one by Zane Manan. With a final score of 68 – 39, this was the most points that Brentwood had conceded all season and for Chelmsford, the highest number of points scored in a game this season, albeit they finished on the losing side.

Eddie Gooby, Chelmsford’s Coach, said after the game: “The players will have to look at themselves this week, today we let ourselves down in our physical and technical approach to the game, and I have never seen this team fall off so many tackles. On the other hand when we had the ball we showed a desire to attack and as a team we gained the biggest bonus point of the season for us by scoring five tries and 39 points in all against a very good Brentwood team who showed us why they have been so near to promotion this season. This bonus point was a massive plus that we can take forward into our next vital game at Letchworth. If someone had said to me that we would have gained 10 points from our last three league games against Ruislip, Old Priorians and Brentwood I would have taken that straight away. The fact of the matter is that this team have played hard and had to fight for every one of those 10 points, so I can’t be more proud of our efforts and achievements this season.”

This coming weekend sees Chelmsford visit Letchworth, which will undoubtedly prove to be a stiff test of their resolve. The following week, 16th April, sees Chelmsford play Barking at home in a game which could ultimately determine which team takes the 3rd relegation place in this highly competitive league.