Kings Cross Steelers 3 - 41 Braintree

KING’S CROSS STEELERS...3 BRAINTREE...41 (Canterbury Jack Essex League One)

BRAINTREE remain top of Essex One after powering their way to an impressive away victory against King’s Cross Steelers at Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon.
The black and ambers were one of the first sides to lock horns with the Steelers when the east London based outfit was formed as the first openly gay rugby club in England during the 1990s.
But the days when the two sides contested friendly matches for the famous ‘White Stilleto Shield’ are long gone.
The Steelers now describe themselves as an ‘inclusive’ club boasting both straight and gay players and have been steadily climbing the RFU’s league pyramid.
Saturday’s clash was the first at senior level between the two sides, but such is the confidence coursing through the visitors’ ranks that there only ever looked like being one victor on the afternoon.
Tree were on the offensive from kick-off and put their hosts under continuous pressure for 10 solid minutes until they finally conceded a penalty for holding on which Kyle Crush converted (0-3).
Soon after a well-worked pack move enabled scrum-half Darren Page to put full-back Glen Whyatt in to score the first of a hat-trick of tries under the posts, Crush converting for a 10-0 lead.
Steelers regrouped and quickly came back into the game, with only some great tackling keeping them from reducing the arrears.

The match ebbed and flowed with the scrums being fiercely contested and the tackling ferocious.

But Tree withstood their hosts’ onslaught and eventually got control of the scrum, with Page adding a second try after finishing a move he started himself, Crush’s conversion stretched Tree’s lead to 17-0 at half-time.

After the break the Steelers deservedly got on the scoreboard by converting a penalty awarded against Tree for offside to make the score 3-17.

The home team then switched the impressive Drew McDowell from centre to the front row of the scrum which fired up the Steelers.

But Tree weathered the storm and a superb interception try by Whyatt saw him power past three defenders to score his second between the posts, Crush’s conversion giving Tree a 24-3 advantage.

The fitness of both sides was put to the test on a hot day more suited to cricket but the visitors’ defence was outstanding and slowly wore down a committed home side.
With 15 minutes to go Crush added two tries of his own in quick succession, converting one to put Tree out of sight at 36-3.

And with the clock ticking down man of the match Whyatt scored the last of his three tries after dodging numerous tackles on the right wing to seal a convincing 41-3 win.

BRUFC joint coach Brian Joslin said: “The final score flattered us because it was a lot closer on the day.

“We were made to work really hard for our victory and our defence was truly outstanding in restricting Steelers to just three points.
“The forwards played really well, dominating the scrums and line-outs and supplying plenty of ball for our backs.
“And our backs were devastating when they had the ball - Glen Whyatt had a blinding game at full-back, showing great pace in scoring his three tries.
“We’re not complacent and we recognise there is still lots to work on for us but we lots of options player-wise now and it’s definitely a case of so far so good.”
Tree are back in Essex One action on Saturday when Stanford-le-Hope based side Pegasus Palmerians are the visitors to Robbs Wood.

BRUFC: Whyatt, J Moore, Crane, J Young, K Crush, Adams, Page, M Moore, McKenna, Halford, Carslake, Aldridge, Turner, Benfield, Spearman. Reps: Stephens, Hardin, Johnston.