On a day so grey it felt like someone had stuck a sepia filter on, Brentwood welcomed Stowmarket to King George’s looking to get back to winning ways after a narrow defeat away at Westcliff two weeks ago. In contrast to Brentwood, Stowmarket hadn’t had a great start to the season and were winless in seven however there could be no complacency from Brentwood, Stowmarket having proved a tough opponent in the last couple of seasons both at home and away.

Brentwood’s start can only be described as sleepy, not gathering Stowmarket’s kick off downhill hardly being an auspicious start…And it didn’t really get much better for a good 15 minutes, Stowmarket looking certainly more cohesive and threatening with the ball in hand; Brentwood having to rely heavily on their well drilled defence for long periods in their own 22.

Sometimes it takes a bit of individual talent to light the fuse and fortunately for Brentwood Tom Walker was on hand to supply it, squeezing through two defenders and breaking from Brentwood’s 22 following a solid defensive scrum which had been passed straight to him in the centre. With Tom making it up to between Stowmarket’s 22 and 10 metre line, Alex Roberts had done well to follow up in support taking a basketball pass over the top before being dragged down in the 22 only for Tom to retake the pop off the floor and round the cover to score the try he’d started. Ewan May added the conversion, 7-0.

Only the most one-eyed Brentwood supporter would argue that the try hadn’t been against the run of play, but it did seem to finally spur Brentwood on to establish themselves in the game, actually putting together some phases of their own instead of just defending and ten minutes later they got a second try on the board. With the backrow of George Bassenger, Tom Fahy and Matt Whaley all carrying strongly and Ewan starting to provide some lively interjections from fullback, Brentwood had gained some uphill momentum and won a penalty that was put into the corner. Andy Sutton’s lineout was spot on to Dan Suttle (I think…it’s those black scrum hats again!) at the back, the maul forming rapidly and shearing round to the right where Andy Sutton could break off and score. Ewan added another two, 14-0.

Now looking a bit more in the groove, Brentwood added a third five minutes later. From another accurate lineout just outside Stowmarket’s 22, this time to James Killington, Brentwood looked as though they were going to form the maul but this time George Bassenger spun to pop the ball to Andy Sutton who had come round on the loop, putting a lovely pass to Tom Fahy back on the inside line who broke through. Having skipped past two and handed off another, Tom popped the ball back to George who managed the last 5 yards for the try and got round under the posts for good measure, Ewan converted 21-0.

Stowmarket though weren’t about to wave the white flag and five minutes later only two excellent tackle efforts from Ewan May and then Alex Roberts prevented a Stowmarket try from an attack which heralded the traditional period of conceding a try just before halftime. This time though, Brentwood did just about hold out albeit assisted by an element of Stowmarket inaccuracy, half time coming when the ball bobbled loose 5 metres from Brentwood’s line, Ewan able to dive on it and Will Attridge clearing to touch.

Quite what happens and half time remains a mystery, but Brentwood’s second half syndrome kicked in once again; Alex Roberts yellow carded for a high tackle with about two minutes played before Brentwood gave away a myriad of penalties and found themselves very much on the defensive in their own 22 once again.

It took Brentwood the best part of ten minutes to finally grind their way out of defensive mode and, having worked hard to get back into Stowmarket’s 22 and build some phases, a cynical slap of the ball saw Stowmarket yellow carded. With the penalty dead in front of the posts and Brentwood still down to 14 men with a good 25 minutes to play, George Bassenger sensibly elected to take the three via the boot of Ewan May (clearly there are those of us who remember Stowmarket’s unanswered 28 second half points last season and those of us who don’t…), 24-0.

Brentwood were only briefly restored to a full contingent, Jack Rocke next up for a yellow card (yes, it did have to go in the report…) and Brentwood found themselves under pressure again, this time Stowmarket did finally breach Brentwood’s tryline, bundling over in the corner, 24-5.

Fifteen or so further minutes elapsed with the game turning into a bit of a penalty and knock on fest, but Brentwood did eventually manage to nab the bonus point try with ten to go. It started again from the solid foundation that was Brentwood’s lineout, Andy Sutton accurate to James Killington, the maul trundling forwards but going to ground before Andy picked up and nearly got over himself. The ball was quick, and Brentwood rushed to the blindside, Ewan taking advantage of a slightly disjointed defensive line to pin his ears back and go through two defenders for the try which he also converted for a perfect 100% day off the tee, 31-5.

There were still ten minutes left to play in which no further points were scored but Brentwood did manage to accrue a couple more injuries to add to the ever-lengthening list, Liam Power having already copped a significant one with a broken collar bone earlier in the game (get better soon!); George Bassenger ending the game in his absolutely not favoured position of centre and Aston Bevans-Royston having to make a reappearance from the touchline that with two prop subs on the bench he must have been certain wasn’t going to happen…

Fulltime eventually came around and whilst not Brentwood’s finest, another display of very solid defence and a bonus point win can’t be grumbled at but still plenty to work on…mostly the second half!

Next week Brentwood head to Harlow where they lost narrowly last season, 33-29. Harlow’s season so far has seen them win 5 and lose 3 putting them currently in 4th, 4 points behind Brentwood (although Brentwood do have a game in hand) and will be another tough game for Brentwood if they want to maintain their excellent start to the season.