Brentwood this week made the short trip down the A127 to take on another unbeaten team in the form of Westcliff. With Westcliff having been playing in the leagues above for the last few seasons and being the apparent pace setters for Regional 2 Anglia this season it was to be a good test of where Brentwood are currently at.

It was a mixed bag of a start for Brentwood who, having received the kick off and cleared, then spent the next ten minutes defending in their own half. Whilst Brentwood’s defence was excellent, spending that length of time defending and with absolutely no possession or territory of their own, it felt a bit inevitable that the try was coming; Brentwood finally getting caught short by an inside ball for Westcliff to go over by the posts, 7-0.

Brentwood though bounced back almost immediately, a high hanging Sam Cappaert kick from the restart being well pressured by Colby Dobson and forcing Westcliff into a hurried clearance. A few penalties later and Brentwood found themselves with a lineout on Westcliff’s 22 from where they executed superbly a pre-planned move which saw James Vogel absolutely steam through a gap after the briefest of mauls and go over for Brentwood’s try. Sam Cappaert converted, 7-7.

A further cagey ten minutes elapsed before Westcliff added 3 from the boot via a penalty, 10-7, but it was Brentwood who were to score another try before half time. A big rip in midfield from Dan Suttle allowed Liam Power to break round the fringes, Westcliff conceding a penalty which Sam Cappaert again put on Westcliff’s 22. Brentwood again pulled a lineout move out of the bag – this time Andy Sutton looping around the back of the maul to break. Dan Suttle and James Killington teamed up to take the ball on further before the ball was whipped blind, Sam Cappaert putting Colby Dobson in at the corner with a no-look pass, 10-12.

Brentwood started the second half brightly with another good defensive set keeping Westcliff at bay before a period of loose play from both teams saw possession ricochet backwards and forwards until Brentwood finally established some dominance on about the 50-minute mark. With Eamon Tiernan and Dan Suttle carrying hard and making yards, Jamie Wyatt and Tom Fahy combined to give Colby Dobson a bit of space down the wing from which he did well to stay infield and take Brentwood to 5 out. There Brentwood remained camped with Westcliff giving away a slew of penalties until the referee finally lost patience and brandished the yellow, reducing Westcliff to 14.

Brentwood went for the jugular, tapping from 5 metres out first via one of the many of you in black scrum hats (any chance we could make my life easier and get some different colours…?) before Will McArthur assisted by Andy Sutton drove over for the try, Sam Cappaert’s conversion giving Brentwood a 10-19 lead.

Annoyingly, Brentwood conceded a soft penalty almost immediately from the restart in what was to become the theme of the game for the next ten minutes, the concession of another two soft penalties, all of which were kicked by Westcliff, bringing the game level at 19 apiece with just under twenty minutes to go.

Westcliff saw another yellow card for a high tackle shortly after, but Brentwood were struggling to get out of their own half, trying to play a bit too much and not retaining the ball well enough. They did have one final opportunity with minutes to go when finally a few passes stuck and Tom Fahy broke down the wing from inside Brentwood’s 22, getting the ball back inside to Eamon Tiernan who set Luke Watson free to take play to nearly half way. With the ball recycled quickly, Tom Walker steamed through the middle and was hauled down just shy of the 22. Brentwood went though the phases in the 22, Alfie Adams with another significant crash and were building quite the head of steam until a somewhat perplexing penalty was awarded against them and that was that.

More frustratingly still from the subsequent lineout and attack, Westcliff were awarded another penalty and with time up and knowing they had the advantage went for the drop goal which sailed over, giving them the win and the full-time whistle, 22-19.

For Brentwood this was game was a mixed bag of emotions. Disappointing to have lost a game they most certainly could have won but also a game in which they outscored their hosts 3 tries to 1 in spite of it being one of the least cohesive attacking performances of the season so far. It was also another well marshalled defensive effort, Westcliff not really troubling Brentwood’s tryline after the first ten minutes and having to rely on the boot, and confirmation that if Westcliff are the pace setters, Brentwood are most certainly in the mix.

The league now takes a break for a week which is probably good news for Brentwood with a fair few of the squad currently being hamstrung or held together by tape…Probably not so great news for Liane who will be quite busy…

On the following Saturday, Brentwood will look to get back to winning ways at home against Stowmarket. Stowmarket are currently bottom of the league having lost their opening 7 but have history of being a troublesome opponent for Brentwood, Brentwood very nearly blowing a 33-0 lead in the same fixture last season so it’s likely to be another nerve-racking one!