Saturday 3rd April 2010
Harpenden 14 - Brentwood 21

Magnificent team performance secures vital win

Last Saturday saw the replay of the league match that had to be abandoned due to referee injury when first played in December. The league positions were tight with Brentwood one place clear of the relegation zone and one place and one point ahead of the home side. Harpenden had been well ahead during the abandoned game so, cheered on by a larger and vociferous home crowd, the home side went on to the pitch in a confident mood.

Brentwood kicked off in good playing conditions and immediately took the game to the opposition. After 8 minutes continual pressure Brentwood forced a penalty for Harpenden collapsing a maul but the kick was missed. Back came the visitors with more aggressive play, camped in and around the Harpenden 22. After 13 minutes a Brentwood attack broke down and Harpenden broke away, with the benefit of an unseen forward pass, to score a converted try and to take a 7-0 lead.

The visitors’ restart was hesitant, allowing Harpenden to exert their first pressure of the game but back came Brentwood on the attack, only to lose possession from which Harpenden kicked through for their right wing to gather and score a further converted try – 14-0. Harpenden had little of the early possession but found themselves 2 scores ahead after 17 minutes.

Brentwood looked shell-shocked after the second score but, from their first attack after the restart, the home full back had a clearance kick charged down and Beith followed up to score a try. Burr added the extras to make the score 14-7 after 20 minutes.

Harpenden now started to play with more fluency and moved the ball through their dangerous backline to exert pressure which forced Brentwood to concede a number of penalties. With Harpenden unable to convert the few opportunities they had due to ferocious Brentwood cover tackling, the visitors were able to reassert territorial advantage and had the opportunity to close the gap as halftime approached but the penalty attempt drifted wide. 14-7 to Harpenden at the break.

Brentwood started the second half at full pace but a number of errors prevented an early score. Both sides were having difficulties with the referee’s strict enforcement of straight ball at the lineout in the capricious wind.

The visitors stuck to their attacking game and a good backs move was stopped on the home try line. At the resultant scrum the Brentwood pack had the opposition in all manner of difficulties and gained a penalty as a result. Opting for another scrum a further penalty was won. At the third scrum, with the referee thinking about a penalty try, the visitors crashed over for Beith to score a try which Burr converted to bring the score level after 15 minutes of the half.

Harpenden through everything into attack, trying to bring their dangerous wingers into the game.
The Brentwood defence held firm with the backs putting in some great cover tackles and the forwards smashing the ball up the middle at every opportunity. The visitors began to dominate as their physical commitment started to take a toll on the Harpenden players, a number of whom were obviously tiring. The intensity with which the Brentwood players competed for every ball at the breakdown made them clear winners in this area of play.

Brentwood won a penalty for a line out offence but the kick was wide. The visitors moved the ball down the line but the penultimate pass went to ground with an overlap available. With little time remaining Brentwood won a further penalty in the Harpenden 22 and opted for a scrum. After an initial collapse and reset the visitors pack again forced their opponents back over the try line for King to score a try which was converted by Burr to take the visitors into a 14-21 lead.

The game restarted with only seconds remaining and Brentwood safely gathered the restart kick and cleared the ball to touch to end the game. The scenes of jubilation form the Brentwood contingent gave evidence of their commitment and effort. The disappointment shown by the Harpenden players showed the importance of this defeat to them, but they had played their part in a great game of rugby and deserved the applause of the supporters despite the defeat.

This was a great team performance by Brentwood in a “must win game”. It would be unfair to single out any one player for man of the match. Every player contributed to the victory and they must now all carry that through to next week’s crunch final league match of the season.

Team: Sherwood, Brooke, Bevans –Royston, Woodcock, King, Pickworth, Roman, Beith, Cook, Burr, Solomons, Mead, Thomas, Gillet and Stannard.

This Saturday, 10th April, Brentwood play their last league match of the season at home to Ruislip. A home win would secure Brentwood a position above the relegation zone. All spectators are welcome to give our team the support they deserve – kick off 3 p.m.