Match Report
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| Date - 8th November 2003 |
Old Brentwoods -v- Dagenham |
| Essex Division 2 |
| Old Brentwoods 22 Dagenham 6 |
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| Old Brentwoods hosted Dagenham this week, looking to maintain their recent unbeaten run. Straight from the kick off they were quickly into their stride, with pressure on the opposition leading to an early turnover of possession. Forward momentum was added by Gary Martin and Gary Barlow to create a ruck, from which scrum half Neil Hannaway fed James Holmes to force his way over for an early score. Captain Chris Reah added the extras to make it 7-0. |
| Old Brentwoods were back on the offensive straight from the restart. Billy Mullen took the catch and gained good ground to set up clean ball for the backs, which was fed to Jerry Shouksmith whose powerful run took the home team into the opposition 22, but strong defence prevented any immediate score, resulting in an attacking scrum. From the scrum ball outside half Reah probed for the line but was well held short of the line, but quick ball was fed along the line to centre Neil Tentner who used the overlap to wrongfoot his marker and power through to make it 12-0. |
| Dagenham then came into the game with a series of good attacking plays but were unable to breach the home defence, respite came from good clearances from James Faiers who had another outstanding display at fullback. Old Brentwoods then went back on the attack. A Dagenham lineout around halfway was stolen by Tim Croom, with the ball fed all along the line to wing Paul Sier who made good ground to take the ball deep inside the 22. The ball was swung left and then right before more quick ruck ball was fed to James Holmes to crash through several tackles and make it 17-0. |
| Again the visitors attacked from the kick off, but were unlucky to spill the ball in the tackle around the 10m line. The ball was hacked through by the home team and well chased up by Tentner, whose football skills allowed him to control the ball and eventually fall on it for his second try of the day. The score was now 22-0 after 20 minutes with the home team looking strong. |
| As the home team know from previous encounters, Dagenham are a much better side than the score at that point suggested which inspired them to come back into the game. They pressed for much of the remainder of the half, but a strong home defence restricted them to just two penalties, leaving the half time score at 22-6 to Old Brentwoods. |
| The second half belonged to the defences and was far from a spectacle for the spectators. Despite some good attacking runs by Shouksmith and wings Sier and Dean Bourne the home team were unable to add to their score. Similarly good defence from Paddy Bache, Pete Womersley and the dynamic Jon Demaray prevented some fine Dagenham attacks being converted into points. The stalemate left Old Brentwoods grateful for their strong start and looking forward to a hard return match in Dagenham in December. The final score - Old Brentwoods 22 Dagenham 6. |
| This week the 1st XV are looking for a friendly match at home, with the 2nds travelling to Southend in a Merit Table game. Old Brentwoods is open to all - interested players should contact Club Captain Chris Davies on 07989 383479. |