On a sunny but breezy afternoon at King Georges, regular Brentwood supporters would be forgiven for thinking it was Groundhog Day. After watching last week’s 54-5 home victory against Fullerians, they were treated to another thrilling second half performance this week that featured six tries by a totally dominant Brentwood side.

After seven minutes of play, the visitors registered the only score of a stuttering first half when they seized on a loose ball in mid field and kicked forward into the space behind Brentwood’s defence. The ensuing foot race was won by Old Priorians speedy right winger Oscar Ward who touched down under the posts. An easy conversion put OP’s into a 7-0 lead.

The first half was a hard fought but very disjointed affair, notable for Old Priorians territorial domination and some very strong tackling by both sides. Brentwood’s play lacked its usual energy and cohesion and Old Priorians were clearly determined to follow up on their first victory of the season against Sudbury the previous week. Brentwood’s closest effort was a Charlie Chambers penalty which narrowly missed the left hand post.

Whatever head coach Steve Killington said in his half time team talk, the Brentwood team started the second half in a completely different mood and played with the energy and intensity that was missing in the first half. They quickly established territorial and possession dominance over a tiring OP’s side and scoring seemed to be just a matter of time.

In fact, it was not until the sixtieth minute of the game and following twenty minutes of sustained pressure and some fine attacking moves that the home side registered their first points. Centre Adam Thomas burst through the middle of the OP’s defence to touch down under the posts and Charlie Chambers duly converted to level the scores at 7-7.

Brentwood piled on the attacking pressure and scored five more tries in the remaining twenty minutes of the second half. Try number two, arguably the pick, was scored by right winger Ed Greenfield after a strong run by centre Henry Bird. Declan Gillett broke free to run in try number three and quickly added a fourth home try after a great run by Ed Greenfield. Two conversions by Charlie Chambers brought the score to 26-7

With the final whistle approaching, Brentwood maintained their intensity and crossed the OP’s line for the fifth time after a massive scrum by the pack and a battering drive by Lewis Pratley gave flanker Ben Amato the chance to touch the ball down again. Charlie Chambers angled conversion attempt struck the post. In over time, the final home try by number eight Tom King followed a rare advantage played by the referee. Charlie Chambers completed the scoring with his fourth conversion of the afternoon bringing the final score to a convincing 38-7.

The DAVLAV man of the match award went to scrum half Harry Chambers whose performance behind the pack set up much of Brentwood’s best play. This third victory establishes Brentwood in fourth place in the league with 16 points from four matches. Next week’s 1st XV fixture is away to Eton Manor, kick off at 3.00pm.

Brentwood Team: Skurr, Payne, Pratley, Woodcock (c), Hobbs, Aldous, Amato, King, Chambers (H), Simpson, Gillett, Stannard, Thomas, Greenfield, and Chambers (C). Subs: Richards, Bird, and Wells