Match Report

Old Brentwoods went through to the next round of the President’s Shield after a closely contested game against Thames on Sunday. The greasy conditions made it hard work for the handling in the backs, but ideal conditions for the battle between the 2 big packs.

Both teams went at each other from the off and in the opening exchanges, neither side could gain the upper hand. There was a high number of turnovers and neither team could turn their possession into territory. Soon enough though, the home side set up a catch and drive at the lineout which allowed them to grind their way up the hill and deep into the opposition half for the first time. Thames conceded a penalty for offside and the Blues were 3-0 up from a well-taken penalty from fly-half Perry Reeves.

This spurred the home side on and the forwards produced a spell of quick, clean ball which Reeves used to set the centres Gooday and Dunseath off. They used this to good effect and they were cutting the opposition defence to ribbons. Although the final pass wasn’t always going to hand, it seemed only a matter of time before the score would come.

From a scrum inside their own half, the ball was quickly shipped to Dunseath who sped through the gap before kicking ahead. He beat the covering defence to the touchdown and the home team were 8-0 up. The conversion was missed.

This spurred Thames into action and they were now getting numbers to the breakdown. They drove their way down the hill with some good attacking play down the sides of the ruck and they were soon near the Old Brentwoods try-line. Their pressure forced a penalty and the score was then 8-3.

They kept up the pressure straight from the kick-off as they rumbled down the pitch repeatedly with the "pick and drive". They did this all the way down the pitch and despite some last ditch tackling from Barton and Bache, they scored to deservedly bring it back to 8-8.

There was still ten minutes to go before half-time and Thames went looking for another score. Old Brentwoods had to dig deep to survive the pressure and there was some notable tackling from flankers Buchanan and Womersley. Thames remained camped in their opposition’s 22, but just couldn’t convert the pressure into points.

Old Brentwoods came out firing after the half-time break and were starting to establish some dominance. The front row trio of Raymond, pack-leader Davies and Barton were clearing out the rucks and were working just as hard in the set-piece. Number 8 Mullen was looking dangerous when he was picking and going from the back of the scrum and Old Brentwoods were now creating 2nd and 3rd phases of play. The ball was then getting down the line and full-back White and wingers Mole and Hall were wreaking havoc. But the Thames defence stood firm.

Each side spent long periods in their opposition 22, but both defences were so committed that it was impossible to score … until Old Brentwoods conceded a penalty for offside right in front of the posts. The Thames fly-half calmly slotted the kick and Old Brentwoods were behind in the game for the first time with 10 minutes to go.

Old Brentwoods dug deep and threw everything they had at Thames. Paul Dennilson, one of the recent additions to the club, attacked the kick-off and created havoc in the Thames defence. They were forced to clear and Old Brentwoods had a lineout in a great position. Again Thames produced the unexpected though and nicked the ball from the lineout!

With just minutes to go, Old Brentwoods had the put-in at a scrum deep inside their half. The ball went out to Dunseath who shot through the gap and took play all the way up to the 22. Winger Mole then popped up on his inside and took the pass before beating 2 men to finish in the corner for a great try to put them 2 points into the lead.

Thames threw everything into the last couple of minutes. In what was to be the last play of the game, they elected to try and kick a penalty from just past the halfway line. The attempt fell short and the score remained 13-11 to the Old Brentwoods as they secured a well-deserved victory.