Match Report
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| Date - 24th January 2004 |
Old Brentwoods 2nd XV -v- Brentwood 3rd XV |
| Merit Table |
| Old Brentwoods II 38 Brentwood III 0 |
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| Old Brentwoods 2nd XV crushed local Merit Table rivals Brentwood 3rd XV by 38 points to 0 at Ashwells Road on Saturday.
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| In a flurry of points in the second half, the Old Boys were able to stamp their authority on the game, and lay down the gauntlet for the return fixture in a fortnight’s time.
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| In the first half, stalwart defence by the home side, particularly from centres Buchanan and O’Connor, prevented Brentwood from taking advantage of the slope and the following wind, and the half finished scoreless.
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| It was in the second period that the game came alive, with Old Brentwoods emerging from the half-time team-talk from captain Hugh Godfrey invigorated and ready to take the game to their opposition. Moments after the kickoff, an open-side kick from fly half Perry Reeves was recovered by wing Ian White, who rounded his opposite number to score. The try was unconverted , but shortly afterwards the home team found themselves once again in an attacking position with a scrum at the Brentwood 22. Scrum half Hughes penetrated the defence to score under the posts and Reeves converted, bringing the score to 12-0.
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| Feeling the pressure, the visitors were made to pay again as, having conceded a penalty and being made to retreat a further 10 yards for dissent, they were still in disarray as full back Neil Hannaway took a quick tap and danced through the defence to score another try under the posts which Reeves again duly converted.
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| If the previous tries had been created from attacking moves, the strength of the home defence was then demonstrated, as ferocious tackling forced Brentwood back to their own try line before replacement centre Doug Sier pounced on the loose ball and crossed the line for the fourth try.
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| The score was increased as Simon Peace, on as a blood substitute for the injured Buchanan, was released after a jinking run by acting scrum half Hannaway, and bisected two defenders before outpacing the covering tackler in a race to the line. Once again, Reeves made sure of the extra points.
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| Number 8 Pat Stroud then further extended the lead, picking up from the back of the scrum at the Brentwood 22 and striding through the defence to score. Reeves’ conversion brought the score to 38-0, which is how it would remain in spite of the visitors’ quest for a consolation try which saw them twice denied by tryline tackles, first by Mike Bache and then by Tim Cuthbert.
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| Next week the Old Boys’ 2nd XV travel to Westcliff while the 1st XV host the Ravens.
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