BRAINTREE…71 MAVERICKS…21 (London 3 Essex)

BRAINTREE RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 2017/18 SEASON.
Any copy queries to BRUFC Publicity Officer John Troup on 07860-179347.

BRAINTREE…71 MAVERICKS…21 (London 3 Essex)

RAMPANT Braintree kept up the pressure on second placed Millwall with a devastating 11-try victory over bottom club Mavericks.
The black and ambers dominated possession from the kick off, pushing their opponents off their own scrum just two minutes into game.
Moving the ball swiftly out through the backs Tree’s slick passing saw open side flanker Charlie Marsden touch down in the corner to score the first try of the afternoon. 5-0.
For the next 15 minutes the home side pressed hard, bullying the Mavericks pack at the set play and pinning them inside their own half.
The dam finally burst after 17 minutes when a driven line-out in the visitors’ 22 saw three phases of quick passing before skipper John Smillie crashed over to score a try converted by James Abbott. 12-0.
On 34 minutes another strong scrum in the Mavericks 22 saw Smillie pick up and trigger another set play which ended with scrum-half Joss Adams crossing the try line, Abbott’s conversion making it 19-0.
The visitors from Brentwood were starting to look ragged and try number four arrived just two minutes later when Adams got his second.
Seeing the opposition full-back involved in a contact situation he chipped over their defence and ran through to re-gather the ball and score, Abbott’s boot adding the extra points again. 26-0.
Almost immediately Mavericks fought back for their first points when a long kick to touch followed by a successful line-out gave them the platform for a converted try. 26-7.
But right on the stroke of half time Tree were pressing hard again and ripped the ball from their opponents in contact enabling inside centre Joe Young to score and clinch a 31-7 interval lead.
After the break the black and ambers carried on where they left off in the first half, forcing play into the Mavericks 22 straight from the re-start.
A sliced defensive kick fell into the hands of outside centre Abbott who outstripped their defence to score before converting his own try on 44 minutes. 38-7.
On 52 minutes Tree got a bit too adventurous as they tried to play their way out of their own 22.
A speculative chip over the on-rushing Mavericks back line was sliced straight to hand, enabling the visitors to score their second converted try of the afternoon. 38-14.
But they hit back immediately, working their way back down the pitch before Smillie capped off some fine forward interplay by going over for his second try which Abbott duly converted. 45-14.
Mavericks kicked the re-start straight back to Tree and replacement second row Tom Carslake caught the ball cleanly before galloping through a couple of tackles before setting up good ruck ball.
It was recycled quickly enabling fly-half Josh Hine to glide through a gap and feed Young for his second try, that man Abbott on hand to kick the extra points. 52-14.
On 65 minutes the imperious Smillie got his hat trick as Tree found themselves deep in Mavericks 22 once again.
Piling the pressure on at the scrum to force repeated re-sets eventually took its toll with the big number eight picking up and driving over, Abbott’s conversion making it 59-14.
The visitors kept working hard and earned themselves their third converted try on 70 minutes while Tree were down to 14 men after incurring a yellow card. 59-21.
But it was business as usual on 73 minutes when Marsden grabbed his second try following another strong scrum in Mavericks 22.
The ball through was slipped through two pairs of hands and fed to the number seven who crossed the line to score, Abbott converting once again. 64-21.
Try number eleven arrived on 78 minutes, with Tree winning their own scrum 10 metres inside their own half.
Great support play saw the ball arrive into the hands of replacement flanker Mike Benfield who put points machine Abbott in to score and convert his own try for a 71-21 victory.
BRUFC Chair of Selectors David Gilder said: “We visited Mavericks in the run up to Christmas and suffered what to many was a shock defeat.
“We let ourselves down badly on the day, travelling without a full squad and with a poor attitude on the day and we got what we deserved.
“We felt Saturday was a day to right some wrongs and that was the attitude from management, coaches and players.
“The conditions were perfect for handling and running rugby and the platform provided by our forwards allowed us to dominate the game from start to finish and play our best rugby of the season.
“We had to be on our game as Mavericks have been scoring a lot of points and were capable of running the ball back from anywhere on the pitch.
“But scrum dominance and our marauding back row starved them of possession and we showed how dangerous we can be with ball in hand.”
BRUFC Coach Brian Joslin added: “The lads were keen to avenge our narrow defeat to Mavericks earlier in the season and we were all very pleased with the win.
“Despite their lowly possession Mavericks are a decent side with a lot good individual players who are well coached, so to get such a resounding win was very satisfying.
“The whole squad contributed to this win. The back row of Lane, Marsden, Smillie and Benfield were outstanding.
“Josh Hine marshalled the backs well and James Abbott kept the scoreboard ticking over with the boot and was always a threat with ball in hand.”
Tree have a free weekend coming up before returning to London 3 Essex action on April 7 when they play away to Campion in the last scheduled league game of the season.

Dann, Gough, Abbott, Young, Keelan Joslin, Hine, Adams, Colebrook, Hardin, Perry, Apps, W Turner, Lane, Marsden, Smillie. Reps: Page, T Carslake, Benfield