Match Report
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| Date - 12th November 2005 |
Dagenham -v- Old Brentwoods 1st XV |
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| Dagenham 30 Old Brentwoods 5 |
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| Off the back of a good victory in their previous league fixture against
Millwall, OBRFC visited Central Park, home of undefeated league leaders
Dagenham, keen to dent the home side's as yet unblemished record.
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| The early exchanges were frenetic but pretty even with, if anything,
OBRFC making the better showing. However, it was Dagenham who opened the
scoring: with OBRFC on the attack and threatening the Dagenham 22 the
ball was spilt, allowing the defending side to hack through and, with
the bounce of the ball favouring them, collect to score against the run
of play.
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| OBRFC fought straight back, buoyed by their early incursions into
Dagenham territory. Excellent work by the tight five gave them a solid
base to work from and, with the skilful duo of Alastair Rigden and Chris
Reah orchestrating play behind the scrum, OBRFC were able to launch several
waves of attack.
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| It wasn't long before OBRFC were back on level terms, though their score
came from a surprisingly unpromising position. Momentum seemed to have
been lost as the ball was fumbled backwards. However, Neil Tentner was
quickest to react and not only fell on the loose ball to secure it but
also had the presence of mind to pop it up to Matthew Staines looping
behind in support. Staines found some space down the right wing
and made headway towards the try line. Hauled down short, he was able
to offload to Adam Steadman who carried the ball, himself and several
Dagenham defenders over the line to continue his prolific try-scoring
season.
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| In defence OBRFC's tackling was exceptional, with the midfield
pairing of Neil Tentner and Andy West to the fore along with back row
dynamos James Holmes and Chris Keogh.
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| The rest of the half ebbed and flowed as each side's offensive and
defensive endeavours largely cancelled each other out. It wasn't until
the closing moments of the half that Dagenham's hard-running inside
centre broke free and a swift interchange of passes resulted in Dagenham
taking a two-tries-to-one lead into the second half.
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| For the majority of the second half the match followed a similar
pattern, with OBRFC absorbing Dagenham pressure and then exerting
pressure of their own. Yet, despite the bullocking runs by prop Charlie
Raymond and second half substitute, Andy Born, backed up by the excellent
and impactful work of Tim Cuthbert, Gary Murphy, front row replacement
Colin MacRae and Matt Warrilow at the ruck, the characteristic, deft
handling of Billy Mullen in broken play and the counter-attacking verve
of Tom Williams and man of the match Jacques Pretorius, OBRFC could not
break down Dagenham's well-organised defence.
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| As the half wore on Dagenham's superior efficiency and unity, developed
through their hard work on the training field, and the confidence and
self-belief born out of their winning run, began to show. Their
increasing dominance at the lineout provided a plentiful supply of good
quality possession and they were able to put the match beyond OBRFC's
reach.
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| This was an excellent game played in front of a large crowd of
spectators and full of honest endeavour on both sides. The result was
undoubtedly fair, with the better side coming out on top, though the
score-line does not reflect how closely contested the match was over the
full eighty minutes.
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