Match Report

Old Brentwoods recorded a good away win against a spirited Thames side on Saturday. Both sides played with 100 % commitment and this occasionally spilled over. This was reflected in each side having 2 men sin-binned each and one Thames player being red-carded.

Playing uphill in the first half, Old Brentwoods came flying out of the blocks and put the home team under pressure straight from the off. Thames conceded a penalty which allowed fly-half Reeves to force a lineout on the 5 yard line with their own put-in. Buchanan took the ball to set up the catch and drive up and pack-leader Davies went over to open the scoring. Full-back Hughes stepped up to claim the conversion from the far right-hand touchline and the score was 7-0 with less than 5 minutes gone.

Thames showed some of their renowned spirit to drive themselves straight back down the other end of the pitch with impressive use of the boot from the fly-half. Old Brentwoods, looking solid on their ball in the set-piece, then broke upfield via centres White and Lee before Thames conceded another penalty in a similar position. This time, with the lineout around 10 yards out from the oppo line, they used the same combination & Davies again powered over with Hughes again converting well.

The remainder of the first half was played out with both teams cancelling each other out. Neither could really establish the upper-hand in terms of territory or possession and the first half finished 14-0.

The first couple of minutes of the second half proved crucial. Old Brentwoods were now playing downhill and fly-half Reeves was taking full advantage to set the away team’s backs off at every opportunity. Some clever interplay from between the centres and wingers Ely and Hall saw them dominating in the backs, despite some good play particularly from the home team full-back.

But it was the Old Brentwoods forwards who opened the second half scoring. From a 5 yard scrum, number 8 Mullen went over for a pushover try and Hughes again converted to make it 21-0.

Thames again worked their way back up the pitch and nobody could doubt their commitment, but Old Brentwoods stood firm with some great work in defence from Raymond & Bache in particular. Flankers Womersley and Buchanan also did a lot of work around the park to stifle any possible threat.

10 minutes into the second half Thames again conceded a penalty at the ruck and Reeves again drove them back deep towards their own line. From recycled Ball, Mullen then crashed over for his second of the day … and Hughes converted again.

Thames again came back and but for some last-ditch tackling by second-row Dennilson and from front-row Barton, Thames would have crossed the line. This fired up the Old Boys to again push their way down the slope and scrum-half Hannaway went over for the final try. Hughes kept up his 100 % kicking record to bring the score to 35-0 to close the scoring.

Thames kept pushing right until the final whistle but didn’t manage to get on the scoresheet. This bodes well for Old Brentwoods who play Thames again on Sunday in the cup. Kick-off is 2.30 and the game is at Ashwells Road.