Old Brentwoods were keen to continue their powerful unbeaten start to the season, this time hosting Millwall at Fort Ashwells.
With the morning’s rain clearing just on schedule, Millwall started proceedings kicking off the game. Perhaps rusty from the 3-week break between fixtures, the Home side were unable to secure a clean exit and instead faced an early attacking drive in a dangerous field position. The Visitors immediately showed their intent moving the ball well and releasing their winger for a prompt first score in the corner. [0-5]

After a much-needed wake up call, the Old Bs fired back from the reset forcing a Millwall knock on with defensive pressure and setting up a scoring platform. Woodies were keen to flex their set piece muscles and expertly set a rolling maul marching towards the try line with Ed Peace being the man to ground the ball. With wind and a tough angle, the conversion glanced off the upright tying the game. [5-5]

With both teams having quickly opened their scoring what followed was a passage of open yet broken play with both teams testing each other with phase play and tactical kicks. As would be an ongoing theme for the afternoon, slippery ball conditions and unforgiving tackle height discipline led to frequent penalties and shifts in possession with both teams struggling to get a foothold.
After a string of such infringements No.8 George Watson was finally able to pierce the line bursting through the middle and narrowing the defence enough for a long-range miss pass giving an unchallenged try for fullback Rhys Town. [10-5]

With a surge in confidence, Old Bs went straight back to work from the subsequent reset, moving the ball coast to coast and giving winger Liam Talbot space to gallop deep into the opponent’s half with the killer final pass being intercepted by a covering defender.
After some consecutive phases and feeding off this momentum, the Hosts were able to cash in on a penalty directly under the shadow of Millwall’s posts, respecting that scoreboard pressure would be a key facet of the day. [13-5]

Again, more fractured play led to possession see-sawing from one side to the other, both teams falling victim to the ref’s whistle on many occasions. Millwall found themselves at the mercy of the Home side’s lethal set piece thereby choosing tap penalties to keep the tempo moving. On one such occasion, the Visitor’s again were able to display quick hands to break outside and support well enough for their tireless fullback to score beneath the posts. [13-12]

Hungry for more Millwall immediately followed up with an impressive attack off the restart, with an arcing miss pass giving their No.8 space to charge downfield with the Hosts being saved only by the killer last pass being forward.
Keen to get back on track, the Old Bs broke through the middle with Captain Stuart Smyth dancing through defenders only being downed by an illegal tackle from the Millwall 10 leading to time in the sin bin. With only moments left in the half and eager to go into the break on a high, the Old Boys embarked on another trademark maul to the line but were unable to get the ball down over the whitewash. [13-12 HT]

Charged up from the team talk and with speedster Lewis Barnes being inches from reclaiming the kick off, Old Bs soon found themselves down a man with the referee showing Chris Keogh yellow for some comedic commentary off the ball - a performance which earnt him DotD.
Regardless the Hosts drove on, pinning Millwall into their half but again losing the ball close within scoring distance with the quick transition to defence leading to Stuart Smyth joining his teammate in the bin for a slipped high tackle reducing the Home side to 13 men and losing their initial numeric advantage.

The Woodies began to burn the clock with controlled and deliberately uncomplicated rugby while battening down the hatches from a besiegement of carries whenever Millwall were able to grasp possession. Successfully surviving the storm long enough to return to full numbers it was ironically a loose attacking ball that Millwall seized upon and shifted wide to gift a walk-in try. [13-19]

With blood in the water, Millwall again attacked directly from the next kick off, slipping a tackle and working down the wing. With tempers flaring a subsequent off the ball transgression led to another visitor to sin bin, allowing Old Bs to relieve pressure and begin their next attacking campaign. Feeling the game slipping and urgent to score again it fell to 1-man atomic super-sub James Lennox to quickly take a tap penalty and drag defenders over the line giving the home side back a marginal lead [20-19]

With the game hanging in the balance, the Woodies clicked into their tried & tested game management mode. While pressing Millwall for territory and forcing them to play deep, fortune favoured the Home side when Tim Mason was able to spring on a loose messy ball and stab it bobbling towards the try line, before being cynically taken down off the ball for a penalty try - the perpetrating Millwall player being the 5th resident of the sin bin and sitting out the remainder of the match. [27-19]

The Visitors, to their credit, refused to go down without a fight and continued to press the intensity of the match - catching tired players in offside positions and being rewarded a penalty kick to bring the game once again within a score. [27-22]

With the clock ticking and the game on a knife edge the Host’s elected for safe tight running to grind the defence down and inch ever closer to a final nail in the coffin. Frustrated defenders’ physicality and discipline began to fray, and the Woodies could see the end in sight. Alas it came down to young buck Cam Phillips to put the game to bed, cutting a sharp line and crossing the line for his first senior try and the man of the match mantle. [34-22 FT]

An unreflective scoreline of a truly fierce battle against a strong side that always gives a great enjoyable game of rugby. Old Brentwoods now have the maximum 3 bonus points for the season and set their sights on the upcoming local derby at Billericay in 2 weeks’ time.