For their first game of 2020 Brentwood made just one change to the team that beat Southend; Colby Dobson coming on to the bench in the place of Dan Pembroke. Brentwood had previously beaten their opponents Ruislip away on a gloriously sunny day (remember those?) in September and were hoping to repeat the same again in the January gloom.

Brentwood did not have the most auspicious of starts with Ruislip kicking off and immediately retrieving the ball. This was then further compounded by Adam Thomas deciding he wasn't quite ready to end his Christmas break yet - a yellow card and ten more minutes on the touchline awarded for an off the ball tackle before the game was even a minute old, we think it might be a club record...

From the resulting penalty Ruislip kicked to touch but Brentwood competed well at the lineout, stealing the ball which allowed for the clearance to touch. A second steal at the next lineout allowed Brentwood out of their own half unscathed from the first minute incident and the opportunity to settle into the game.

A few phases later Ruislip were throwing into the lineout on their own 22 when another steal, this time from George Bassenger, launched Brentwood's attack. The ball was off the top and out quickly down the backline on the counter as Ruislip scrambled back into defensive alignment. Having tracked the ball, George Bassenger was involved again with a strong carry and neat offload to Jack Richards who also made substantial yards going forward before George Bassenger contributed again with another crash down the blind side. The ball was recycled quickly to the openside and through the hands of Sam Kendall to Ed Hornby who pulled in two defenders before offloading to Alex Wilson to tiptoe in for the try in the corner. Thomas Lucas Roast added the extras 7-0 Brentwood.

Ruislip were still a man to the good and, undeterred by Brentwood's try, again won the ball back at the restart and made some good forays of their own into the Brentwood half. After several phases of play, Brentwood conceded a penalty for being offside which Ruislip elected to kick, 7-3 Brentwood.

Unfortunately for Ruislip this was to be their only score of the day in a game that saw Brentwood ultimately score a further 76 unanswered points by the full time whistle.
Try two began by Charlie Wilkinson leaping impressively to reclaim Brentwood's restart from Ruislip's successful penalty. The ball was recycled through several phases, Tijde Visser and James Vogel making prominent inroads, and when some space appeared down his wing Charlie made no mistake in scoring the try from the move he had started. Conversion missed, 12-3 Brentwood.

Brentwood's third came soon after, a probing kick to space from Ed Hornby challenging Ruislip, the skewed attempted clearance landing straight in the bread basket of Jack Richards on the 22. Brentwood spotted the defensive disarray and got it wide quickly through the hands of Joe McMillan and Sam Kendall to Charlie Wilkinson who waltzed over for his second. Thomas Lucas Roast's conversion put the score at 19-3 to Brentwood.
Brentwood secured the try bonus point on around the 25 minute mark. From a scrum the ball was out quickly to the backs with Sam Kendall making the half break to get in behind Ruislip. He managed to get the ball away to Charlie Wilkinson who was well tackled just before the try line but successfully popped the offload to James White for the score. The conversion missed, 24-3 Brentwood.

With a healthy lead and the bonus point Brentwood were playing with the wind in their sails, running from deep and making their way into the Ruislip 22 once more. Ruislip did well to stall their progress for a period, Jack Richards looking to be through but tackled just short and a well defended maul being deemed held up over the line. Brentwood however, scored their fifth from the resulting scrum. The ball was in and out quickly, through the hands of James White and Thomas Lucas Roast to the onrushing Adam Thomas on the inside angle back towards the posts, bumping a final defender for the score. Thomas Lucas Roast's conversion was good, 31-3 Brentwood.

Ruislip to their credit battled back, enjoying a period of possession and territory but Brentwood's defence was disciplined and eventually won a turnover at the ruck. From the turnover the counter attack was launched, Brentwood's pack first powering up the middle before the backs were unleashed. Ed Hornby provided the scoring pass for Colby Dobson, who had replaced Adam Thomas after his 20 minute cameo, with Thomas Lucas Roast's conversion taking the score to 38-3 at half time.

Brentwood continued in the same manner after half time, some strong defence forcing Ruislip into another hurried clearance which Brentwood returned via route one through Toby Tierney and Joe McMillan. The ball was recycled to Sam Kendall on the crash, barrelling through the last of the defenders for the try, maybe even muddying his shirt in the process...The conversion missed, 45-3 Brentwood.

After the fast start to the second half the game then ebbed and flowed for a while, both teams trying to put together phases but nothing coming from them until from a seemingly innocuous ruck a scuffle started on the floor. To the surprise of few, James White emerged from the bottom of the melee alongside the Ruislip number 8 - both of course protesting their innocence. The referee showed no interest in their pleas, both receiving a yellow, and James White breathed a secret sigh of relief that Adam Thomas' attempt to retake his yellow card crown had been thwarted for the time being.

Brentwood had been awarded the penalty from the handbags and opted to kick for the corner. Ruislip again did well to hold up the Brentwood maul but conceded a penalty from the resultant 5 metre scrum allowing Brentwood to try the same ploy again. This time they were successful, James Vogel the man emerging with the ball for Brentwood's eighth of the day. Conversion missed, 50-3 Brentwood.

Brentwood yet again struggled at the restart, Ruislip timing the tackle perfectly to bundle Brentwood into touch. The lineout however was askew and, as is usually the case, Matt Whaley was on hand to hoover up the mess, winning the ball back for Brentwood. James Killington carried the ball straight up the middle before James Vogel provided the inside pop pass to Dan Suttle on the charge. Having built up quite the head of steam, he went galloping straight through Ruislip's defence and past 4 defenders for a try that he'll certainly want to put on his highlights reel. Thomas Lucas Roast knocked over the straightforward conversion, 57-7 Brentwood.

Brentwood's tenth of the day was proof that when it's going your way, it's really going your way. After a bouncy run from Colby Dobson and more strong work from Charlie Wilkinson, Ed Hornby dinked a deft chip over the defence into the bottom corner of the pitch which he chased up. The bounce looked to have evaded him until he pulled the most outrageous bit of skill out of the bag - back heeling the ball over his own head, the technical term is apparently a rainbow flick, before diving on the ball over the try line to score. The conversion missed, 62-3 Brentwood.

The forwards, largely unimpressed by this showing off, decided to keep the ball to themselves for a while and a period of carrying eventually drew another penalty which was punted into the corner. Brentwood made no mistake with the lineout and, still not willing to share with the backs, set the maul again with Toby Tierney being awarded the try once it had trundled over the line. Thomas Lucas Roast slotted the extras, 69-3 Brentwood.

More industrious work from Leo Friswell, Tijde Visser and Matt Whaley got Brentwood back into the right area of the pitch once more and when a Ruislip knock on in the tackle put the ball into touch Brentwood had another attacking lineout on the 22. Dan Suttle took the ball cleanly at the front and the maul was set, making ground before James White released the backs. The ball was popped to Charlie Wilkinson who had come off his wing to skate through the middle and straight under the posts for his hat-trick try. Thomas Lucas Roast converted, 76-3 Brentwood.

Brentwood's final try came directly from the restart, James Vogel catching it cleanly and the ball making its way to Toby Tierney. Toby broke down the middle, making it from the 22 to 10 metre line before being tackled but got an audacious offload away to George Bassenger who took the ball on. The ball was out of a mini ruck quickly from James White to James Vogel who powered on further and it was recycled quickly again. Tijde Visser was the next recipient with a typically powerful rampage downfield drawing the last defender before popping the ball off. Thirteen may be unlucky for some but not for George Bassenger who took the final pass and just about had the legs to get under the posts for Brentwood's thirteenth try of the day. Another successful conversion for Thomas Lucas Roast completed the scoring, 83-3 to Brentwood.

Brentwood will be pleased to have run off some of the Christmas mince pies and that after scoring the bonus point early they did not let their intensity levels drop against a Ruislip side who continued to battle until the end in spite of the scoreline. Brentwood remain 2nd in the table but level on 52 points with Southend and Old Haberdashers and with only 5 points between 6th and 2nd a win against Woodford next week is imperative.
Woodford are second from bottom in the league but this belies how closely run their results have been. Brentwood's home fixture against them in September saw the narrowest of Brentwood wins with the last kick of the game and there is no doubt that Woodford will be aiming to make amends.