Match Report

The Old Boys had the benefit of the wind in the first half, and needed to make the advantage tell. However, the conditions made life difficult causing numerous handling errors in the midfield. The forwards were evenly matched, with Southend having the advantage of size against the better mobility of the Old Boys pack. The conditions meant that neither side won much clean line-out ball at any stage of the game and scrums nearly all went with the head.

For nearly the entire half Old Brentwood’s had Southend penned in their own half, but it was not until fairly late on that they were able to convert this pressure into points, with a score from Mike Ashby, converted by Perry Reeves. Then Southend were able to hit back almost immediately when an Old Brentwoods knock on in midfield was recovered by Southend and run back three quarters of the length of the field to level the scores at 7-7. Ultimately this score kept Southend in the game, enabling them to end the half in contention at 15-7. Old Brentwoods kept up the pressure for the rest of the half, but were only able to convert this into a penalty and an unconverted try from Ian Hannaway.

The second half was a complete contrast, with Old Brentwoods on the defensive for most of the time, and further handling errors preventing them from relieving the pressure. Strong defence prevented Southend from getting back on terms until five minutes from the end, but eventually a quickly taken penalty from 15 meters out was run in before the Old Boys were able to reorganise.

Tries - Ian Hannaway, Mike Ashby
Conversions - Perry Reeves
Penalties - Perry Reeves

Prop - Dave Knapp
Hooker - Phil Pembroke
Prop - Dave Cavanagh
Lock - Michael Haddock
Lock - Steve Gorrod
Flanker - Mark Tetner
Flanker - Michael Ashby
No 8 - Jamie Keane

Scrum Half - Hugh Godfrey
Fly Half - Perry Reeves
Centre - Ian Hannaway
Centre - Jonny Davis
Wing - John Mole
Wing - Gary Kelleher
Full Back -Simon Peace

Subs -  Ian Waite