Braintree 27 - 30 Maldon

BRAINTRE’s slim promotion aspirations finally dissolved on Saturday as they were denied victory against their Essex rivals in controversial circumstances.
Tree outscored their visitors by five tries to four in a pulsating encounter but their failure to kick the extra points on offer cost them dearly.
And they left the Robbs Wood turf visibly fuming after a try by Maldon was allowed to stand despite their winger clearly putting his foot in touch.
But despite the line judge’s failure to see the infringement Tree had only themselves to blame for losing a game they threw away due to their profligacy with the boot.
Maldon took the lead with a penalty from the 22 after just four minutes and the prowess of their kicker was to prove crucial later in the game.
Their lead lasted only four minutes though as Tree number eight John Smillie broke through the visitors’ defensive lines with a strong carry.
Smillie fed the ball to George Crane who made good yardage before slipping a pass inside to winger Glen Whyatt who scored an uncoverted try in the corner. 5-3.
Maldon then built a lead of their own with a try on 15 minutes after repeated advantage calls from the referee, followed five minutes later by the disputed ‘foot in touch’ try, both of which were converted. 5-17.
But Tree hit back on with half-time looming and closed the gap courtesy of a try from veteran second row Neil Fitzearle.
A free-kick on half way carried on by the forwards before being played out to the backs and then back inside to Fitzearle to narrow the deficit, Darren Page’s conversion making it 12-17.

After the break it didn’t take the black and ambers long to get back on level terms with a fine try from centre Joss Adams following good work from an attacking line-out, but they were unable to kick the conversion. 17-17.
Impressive Maldon were in no mood to relinquish the upper hand however and made use of their kicker to retake the lead with another penalty on 49 minutes. 17-20.
The visitors’ decisiveness with the boot came into sharp focus on 57 minutes when Tree were wide of the mark with another penalty attempt.
And three minutes later they uncharacteristically lost a line-out and conceded yet another try to go 17-25 down.
With a large crowd roaring them on Tree hit back on 64 minutes courtesy of a kick-through and try from Tom Drew, only to see it slip away with final try of the day for Maldon. 22-30.
There was still time for veteran hooker Steve Sewell to further reduce the arrears at the death after stealing Maldon ball at the scrum and triggering a move which he rounded off by crashing over. 27-30.

BRUFC Joint Coach David Gilder said: “It was a disappointing defeat and we weren’t at all happy that the touch judge failed to spot their winger’s foot in touch.
“But we were missing our regular kicker Kingsley Joslin through injury and crucially that’s where Maldon managed to make their advantage tell.
“They’re a good side and they looked far more like a team who trained together regularly than we did.”
Gilder singled out youngsters Will Turner and Tom Drew for praise and said with the club’s academy side doing well the future looked bright for Tree.

Fellow coach Brian Joslin added: “Maldon are the best all-round side we've played in Essex 1 and it's hard to see why they aren’t pushing for promotion
“That said one key decision went against us yesterday which cost us seven points, and the fact our regular place-kicker was missing which cost us dearly.
“We only managed to convert one of our five tries whereas Maldon converted two of their four and notched two penalties.
“There was still a lot of positives from the game. Tom Drew and Will Turner both had strong games and there were some great line breaks by Joss Adams and Glen Whyatt.
“Forwards Stevie Sewell and Wes Apps were industrious all game and our set-piece functioned well, but I can't fault any of the players.
“This result proves we are playing at the right level despite what has been claimed and a lot work and commitment will needed if we are to make the step-up.”

Tree have a break next weekend but will be looking to finish a stop-start season on a high when they entertain Canvey Island at Robbs Wood on April 16th.
BRUFC: Page, Drew, Crane (Abbott), Adams, Whyatt, Willis, Martindale, Hardin, Sewell, Jones (Johnston), Fitzearle, Apps, Turner (Halford), Benfield, Smillie.