Braintree 35 - Billericay 5

Braintree Under 13's, led again by Team Captain Dobbie Berkane progressed in the cup with this solid win over accomplished opposition.

Billericay started brightly, employing some clever kicking combined with very hard running in the forwards to try to break the Braintree line - which, as in the last couple matches, held very firm.
It was notable that the work we have been doing the last few weeks on defensive structure and tackling to suffocate teams is paying off - our line moved up, our tackling was spot on, and we secured a number of turnover balls through quick support.
Equally gratifying was to see this from everyone on the pitch, rather than just the usual one or two individuals - today was a real team effort, with every single player and replacement really upping their game.

The first half ended 15-5 to Braintree, with us now having the advantage of attacking down the slight slope on the pitch.
We had a little shuffle around at half time, with Jimi Clegg (11) and Ollie Swandel (14) coming on, with the injured Daniel Starr being replaced by Kieran Latham (13), and Isaac Hayes (10), we basically had an entirely new back line. In the forwards we moved the boys around a little, with Mackenzie Singleton going from 10 to 4, Tom Overbury from 4 to 1, and Josh Woodcock coming on to replace an excellent Charlie Power at 8.

What happened next was absolutely awesome.

Absolutely nothing.

No change in performance, defence continued to press, tackles flew in (Ollie Swandel in particular proving to be a defensive brick wall, nothing was getting through that channel!). This might seem an odd comment to make, but theres always a nervousness to make changes to a team - well, today, the boys were bullet proof and slotted into their positions perfectly.

We had Billericay pinned back into their 22 for most of the second half, forcing them to rely on a (actually really impressive for under 13's) kicking game to ease the pressure - it just so happened that their kicking game played right into the hands of Braintree's new Mike Brown....

Its always good to see the team perform this well, and even more pleasing when one player has 'that game', when everything clicks and they have a stormer, and today that was Kaelin Dunne. Playing fullback for only the second time, Kaelin was immense in defence, putting in three try saving tackles, and unstoppable in attack (literally, he ran over the deadball line and was going to keep going...!), repeatedly running the length of the pitch, breaking tackles as he went. Scoring a couple of tries was the pinnacle of his performance, but his defensive work was, for the team, fantastic. Its so pleasing to see a player (who is quite quiet and unassuming around the club), really kick arse. And thats the technical term for it.

A final score of 35-5, a well deserved win, and a much better defensive performance than we have seen in a while. Very, very pleasing.

As ever, thank you to the parents and supporters who turned up (Steve Kelly for keeping score, and Pete Clegg for being Chief Cheerleader), I counted 45 of you, which is awesome - despite some comments from the opposition, its great for the boys to hear the support and cheering coming from the sidelines, so please keep it coming!