This week, Brentwood were due to host Thurrock in the battle for 5th place but, with Brentwood’s pitches underwater thanks to a week’s worth of torrential rain, the decision was hastily made to keep the game on but instead forfeit home advantage with Thurrock able to host the fixture on their significantly drier third pitch.

Having lost to Thurrock by 15 points at Thurrock earlier in the season, the task of adding a 5th to the winning run was now a bit more challenging and the first ten minutes of the game were predominantly played in the middle of the pitch with neither team really taking control. The momentum though swung when Tauren Henwood judged the breezy conditions perfectly, earning Brentwood a 50/22 and throw in at the attacking lineout just inside Thurrock’s 22. The ball was out quickly into midfield, Tauren getting it away to the onrushing Tom Fahy who pulled in a couple of defenders before Dan Pembroke weaved through the line, passing to Jamie Cox who drew the last defender to put Luke Watson in for the try. As a thank you for the try, Luke kindly ran round under the posts to make Jamie’s life a bit easier, 0-7.

Brentwood’s second came only two minutes later as a result of a ruthless counterattack when a Kieran Ballinger-Hepworth tackle caused Thurrock to spill the ball, Tauren Henwood getting it off the ground to Dan Pembroke to set the counter. Dan collected and popped the ball to Tom Walker who steamed through the line and downfield to outpace the cover and go under the sticks, Jamie added the extras, 0-14.

Having won back the restart from an excellent kick, the next passage of play saw Thurrock retain possession for a period and exert some pressure in Brentwood’s half, but Brentwood’s defence was pleasingly resolute and eventually they found themselves back on the attack with a lineout in Thurrock’s 22. The lineout found Tom Fahy at the back and successive carries from Eamon Tiernan, Calvin Close and Jack Rocke gave Brentwood go-forward before the ball went out to the backs, Tauren Henwood and Dan Pembroke combing to find Luke Watson who bounced sideways through the tackle to create an overlap on the right before returning the favour to Jamie Cox and putting him in for the try which Jamie also converted, 0-21.

Brentwood’s bonus point try was scored with 35 minutes gone. With Thurrock struggling to stop Brentwood legally, another penalty was popped into the corner and a well-executed lineout manoeuvre from Andy Sutton to James Killington at the tail allowed Brentwood to surge forward in the maul, Andy Sutton breaking off the back to score the try with Jamie’s conversion giving Brentwood a 0-28 lead.

Brentwood extended their tally further a couple of minutes later when a strong Tom Fahy turnover extinguished a Thurrock attack and gave Brentwood a lineout on the Thurrock 22. Brentwood mauled again before Tauren Henwood crashed through to go within 5 and a Thurrock infringement in the subsequent phase gave Brentwood penalty advantage again; Tauren seizing the opportunity to put in a beautifully weighted crossfield kick for Ewan May to catch and fall over the try line with, 0-33.

Of course, you can’t have it all, and there was the try concession just before halftime... With Thurrock having retained the ball well through multiple phases and breached Brentwood’s defensive line on a couple of occasions, Brentwood were caught napping from a quick tap penalty and Thurrock got their first points of the day on the board, 5-33 and half time.

With their tails up from the score, Thurrock came out of the blocks quickly after half time, another good restart causing Brentwood issues and forcing an offside penalty which allowed Thurrock to establish a foothold in the 22. An attacking scrum deep in the 22 gave Thurrock an opportunity which they wasted no time in taking, carrying strongly off the back before scoring in the following phase. With the conversion added, Brentwood’s lead was reduced to 12-33 and, having watched some really close encounters with these two teams over the last few seasons, the tension headache started to creep in…

A probing Thurrock kick, which bounced into touch just outside the 22, was rewarded when Brentwood’s lineout misfired, Thurrock earning the attacking scrum and it looked for all intents and purposes that they were about to add a third with their backs running dangerously. Fortunately, Ewan May was a bit bored of his own team not passing to him and coupled with a hard blitz in defence from Dan Pembroke, Thurrock’s pass was plucked from the air, Ewan going the length for Brentwood’s sixth of the day. Jamie added another two, 12-40.

Thurrock though came back again, with Brentwood having given away a couple of quick penalties a well-set Thurrock lineout maul pulled in the defence before the ball was offloaded through the tackle in midfield. With the conversion added, 19-40 and on the touchline a lot of maths-based conundrums about what a Thurrock bonus point might do to the league table with a good twenty minutes left to play.

Pleasingly, and in a real nod to the development of this team in the second half of the season, Brentwood didn’t take their foot off the gas like they may have done previously. A turnover penalty on halfway followed by another at a ruck quickly after gave Brentwood an attacking lineout in Thurrock’s 22. Whilst the lineout didn’t go quite as neatly as hoped, the ball missing Kieran Ballinger-Hepworth as it came back off the top, a bouncing ball can often be a perilous thing for a defence as it proved to be when Tauren Henwood regathered before slicing straight through the defensive line to put the supporting Eamon Tiernan in. Two more for Jamie’s tally, 19-47.

Five minutes later, Brentwood went close to scoring their eighth try, only to be denied by a deliberate knock on for which Thurrock saw yellow. The eighth did however come straight after, a lovely throw to the back of the lineout found James Killington, Jack Mayes collecting the ball from the briefest of mauls before barrelling over the line in his typical fashion, 19-54 with Jamie’s conversion.

Brentwood rounded their day off with try number nine about 6 minutes later, Thurrock having been issued another yellow card for a high tackle which gave Brentwood another opportunity to stick the ball in the corner. This time the ball went to George Bassenger at the front and the rest of the forwards piled in, the maul racing towards the line before Jack Mayes could peel off with only fresh air in front of him to go over for his second. Having had a few too many easy ones this week, Jamie duly knocked over the conversion from out wide and into the breeze, 19-61 which is how the score would remain at the full-time whistle.

This is now Brentwood’s 5th bonus point victory in a row and has moved them from solidly 6th to 5th place in the league with 4th place in their sights if results go the right way. The league now takes a break week before Brentwood face a big challenge in the shape of league leaders Southend. Southend have not lost since the first day of the season and ran out winners at Brentwood in November by 7 points but with a set of excellent team performances now under the belt and confidence building, if Brentwood can hit their stride, it could be quite the battle at Warners Bridge.