U13 Southend B 7 Brentwood Bulls 38

MATCH REPORT by Andrew Richards:
Southend B 7 Brentwood Bulls 38
On a bright, sunny, if a little blowy, afternoon more reminiscent of early fall than late November, Brentwood visited Southend on Sea for what turned out to be a very fruitful afternoon’s rugby.
With the A squad in League action this fixture provided an opportunity for a number of the newer members of the squad to get decent game with a number making their first or second competitive outing in Brentwood colours.
Brentwood won the toss and captain for the day, Josh Burke elected to play into a stiff breeze in the first half. From the start, Brentwood seemed to get into gear quicker than their opponents and squandered two or three early scoring opportunities when the final pass didn’t quite go to hand. The forwards got into their rucking game and started to gain the ascendency at the breakdown against a physically larger Southend pack. After six minutes of stalemate, and after a series of pick and go moves from the pack, Carl Bloomfield, making a welcome return from long term injury, albeit in the unaccustomed position of No.8, picked up the ball from the base of a ruck and proceeded to dazzle the Southend defence with a series of side steps moves more reminiscent of Shane Williams than a prop turned No.8! He appeared to cross the line and get downward pressure but the unsighted referee had no option but to award an attacking five meter scrum. From the subsequent passage of play after eight minutes, lock Nathan Cobb took matters into his own hands and broke up the blind side to crash over for the first try of the match. Sam Bromiley missed the difficult goal making opportunity. 5-0 to Bentwood.
Brentwood continued to dominate the tight and after the quarter hour mark, lock Jake Barker broke through a couple of Southend tackles some five metres from the line but appeared to be held up short, but then, Andy Ripley-esque, stretched out his arm and one handed placed the ball on the line – a great effort. This time Sam had no problem converting the goal. Southend 0 - Brentwood 12.
By this time, Brentwood were playing some very attractive rugby, with the forwards winning clean ball and the backs running strong lines. Again, only handling indiscipline and the odd case of “Bostik fingers” stopped further scoring.
The deadlock was broken however after seventeen minutes when centre Tom Penney, took a quick tap penalty when the Southend defence was sleeping and ran in 30 metres unopposed to score under the uprights. This was duly converted by Sam Bromiley to take the score to Southend 0 – Brentwood 19.
From the resulting kick off, a strong run by wing Connor Riorden took the ball back into the Southend half. After the resulting ruck, the ball popped up to athletic lock Nathan Cobb who, looking like a giraffe being chased by a pack of hyenas, galloped a full half of the pitch through the wilting Southend defence to score under the posts. This was again converted by Sam Bromiley. Southend 0 – Brentwood 26.
The last five minutes of the first half ended much like the first in a bit of a stalemate with neither team gaining the upper hand. That said it was a very stong first half performance from the Brentwood boys.
With the wind behind them, Brentwood were hoping to take their first half performance up a notch in the second half. However much credit should be given to Southend as their half time team talk and some positional substitutions had them taking the game to Brentwood. They were now winning more than their fair share of rucks and their scrummage looked a lot stronger. The introduction of a strong, direct running inside centre also caused some concerns for the Brentwood back line who now had to seriously up their tackling game for the first time in the match.
The Brentwood defence was however valiant and special mention has to go to Joe Gibb who tacked everything that came at him and led the way for the forwards.
After absorbing this pressure for almost twenty minutes of the second half, Brentwood went on to score what was the pick of the tries of the afternoon. After a clearing kick from the Southend outside half, the ball was passed to outside half Sam Bromiley who, on the half way line passed to substitute centre, Mason Marrable who skipped passed his opposite number to set flying wing, Reece Jacobson on his way up the right deep into the Southend 22. He was well tackled but turned to pop it up to Mason Marrable who had stayed in close support. He was also tacked but heard the loud shouts from behind and offloaded in the tackle to lock Nathan Cobb who like Alberto Juantorena, stretched his legs and sprinted down the right wing to out flank all of the Southend defenders and then ran under the post to score to round off and excellent hat-trick. The conversion was taken soundly by Sam Bromiley and the score moved to Southend 0 – Brentwood 33.
The second half was far more evenly contested and it looked like Brentwood would have the last say on proceedings, when left wing Harry Thomsett broke through the defence to score with only minutes left. The conversion proved just too difficult and the score therefore remained at Southend 0 – Brentwood 38.
But it was our hosts who were to have last say on matters. From the kick off after the last try, Southend spent the last few minutes of the game camped in Brentwood’s 22. Brentwood however won a turnover at a ruck deep in their 22 through the efforts of ever industrious hooker Pat Urry. He then attempted to send our back line away to what might have been the last try of the game only to see a well-timed interception from the Southend centre produce a simple try under the posts. A well-deserved reward for all of their efforts in the second half. This was duly converted and the match ended Southend 7 – Brentwood 38.
A great effort from the Brentwood boys, particularly for those making their débuts or playing in new positions for the first time (especially those now ex-backs that were introduced to the dark side of forward play….there is no going back!).
A final thank you to Southend for their generous hospitality.
 
15 Andriy Tkaczyk
14 Reece Jacobson
13 Harry Thomsett
12 Tom Penney
11 Connor Riorden
10 Sam Bromiley
9 Sean Ryan
8 Carl Bloomfield
7 Joe Gibb
6 Ryan O’Reilly
5 Jake Barker
4 Nathan Cobb
3 Ethan Comer
2 Pat Urry
1 Josh Burke
Substitutions
25 mins: (half time): Jake Hume for Sean Ryan; Mason Marrable for Connor Riordan; Jack Smith for Jake Barker and James Kavanagh for Pat Urry.
37 mins: Jake Barker for Nathan Cobb
41 mins: Pat Urry for James Kavanagh; James Kavanagh for Ryan O’Reilly; (positional swap – Mason Marrable to centre, Harry Thomsett to left wing)
43 mins: Connor Riorden for Andriy Tkaczyk
47 mins: Sean Ryan for Reece Jacobson
49 mins: Ryan O’Reilly for Carl Bloomfield; Carl Bloomfield for Ethan Comer