Following the less than impressive performance last week, the Brentwood team undertook the next challenge, against an unbeaten Chingford side, eager to prove that Letchworth was "just a blimp"!

Matches against Chingford are normally tough affairs and despite an excellent start, Saturday's result hung in the balance well into the second half and at one point it looked like it wasn't going to be Brentwood's day.

It was all change on the Chingford teamsheet, with just a couple of recognisable names, but they seem to have retained their policy of casting their recruitment net far and wide as the multi-cultural tones ("heh Sheila", "throw another sheep on the barbie", etc...), could be heard throughout the match.

The Brentwood teamsheet also showed a number of changes with Tank Sherwood back from his wedding fair, allowing Old Man Sproulie to retire to the bench / play 80 minutes for the seconds. With Brentwood's most legendary player unavailable due to an illness picked up whilst volunteering (church building) in Bogata, Ben "I'm on a heater" Amato stepped up to the plate at 6. Having also cast their recruitment net far and wide over the summer (well just over the Severn Bridge, well actually just to Basildon), real Welsh Tom returned at fullback. Oh, and Killer came in for Kingy.

With the unbeaten Little Matty Northall at the helm, Brentwood kicked off up the hill and soon gained good field position in the opposition's half. From an excellently executed lineout, the ball found the rampaging Joel Bevans-Royston (the 3rd), who smashed through the defensive line and off-loaded to the supporting Ben Amato, who despite wearing infeasibly tight shorts, managed to carry the ball over the try line for Brentwood's first score. Dan "tackle machine" Whitehead slotted the conversion for an early 7-0 lead.

Perhaps the score was too early and / or too easy, as Brentwood's intensity dipped, and with renewed vigour Chingford set about attacking the scoreboard. Despite some good defensive work, Chingford managed to score 2 unconverted tries. Brentwood were also falling foul of the referee and from one of these penalties, the Chingford kicker goaled for a 13-7 halftime scoreline.

With coach Killington having played his socks off, the team waited with baited breath for his halftime team talk. However, the effects of playing and Friday nights birthday celebrations at Stringfellows seemed to have affected his ability to speak and all he could manage was "Oxygen, need oxygen" and "Water! I said get me a Budweiser fool!"

Fortunately, assistant head coach, Frederick Lewis was on hand, dusted of his notebook and delivered with perfection his "why would they do dat" speech. Following on from that, the second half started.

Brentwood again showed what they could do with ball in hand, and after a number of phases scored an excellent try through prop, Bevans-Royston (the 3rd) - his first score for Brentwood since scoring for the under 8s twenty years previous, giving Brentwood a slender 1 point lead at 14-13.

Chingford worked their way back into the Brentwood half and settled for another penalty, regaining the lead at 16-14.

Chingford's back row replacement was obviously not too keen to join his team mates, as seconds after stepping onto the field, he punched the nearest Brentwood player (the mild mannered Adam Sponge) and was sin-binned in a new world record time of 3.4 seconds. For punching back, Adam also harshly saw yellow for the 2nd time in 2 weeks and joined his opponent in rugby jail. Luckily his good buddy (Hughie B) was on hand with his comfort blanket and the tears were kept to a minimum.

It was at this point, the game stagnated and despite numerous assaults on the opposition line, Brentwood were unable to score. The crowd nervously wondered whether Brentwood would lose another tight game, but they shouldn't have worried, as first Whitehead kicked a comforting penalty to nudge Brentwood back in front at 17-16.

This seemed to be the spur and 2 further tries followed, 1 by flyer Dowler and 1 by Josh Woodcock, with 1 converted, bringing the score to 29-16 and clinched the all important bonus point for 4 tries scored.

Chingford themselves were now spurred into action and pushed for the losing (by 7 or less) bonus point. They battered the Brentwood line only to by met with strong defence, however, after a number of phases they did manage to get the ball to their flying winger in space and he touched down for a try in the corner. Unfortunately for Chingford, the conversion attempt missed from out wide and they narrowly missed out on their bonus point.

The final scoreline therefore was 29-21 which again demostrated the tightness of the game but also the gutsy performance of the Brentwood team to not only pull the win "out of the bag" but to also secure the bonus point.

Man of the match was John Beith for his gutsy performance, bravely battling on throughout the game despite a nasty scratch to his knee which nearly drew blood.

Brentwood face another tricky away trip next week, as they venture over the bridge to face Old Colfeians. Old Colf's won both fixtures last year, including a single point winner in the final game of the season, despite an awesome length of the field try from James "legs" Metcalfe, so Brentwood know they must raise their performance once again and approach the game like another cup final!

Finally a couple of congratulations: Steve K on reaching the rip old age of 54, Danny "ginger, plastic copper" Cash on the birth of his 2nd child (and actually "playing" for the 2nds) and Ben "reem" Amato, also celebrating his 17th (stone) birthday.