Victory at Braintree

Woodham having not played for 6 weeks were grateful to Braintree for a pitch with a superb surface. Woodham did not know how they would cope with the lack of match fitness and with a Braintree side who have just beaten Basildon.

Woodham started slowly with the Braintree No 8 making yardage from a scrum and breaking numerous tackles. After 7 mins Woodham worked their way into the game and from an attacking scrum no 8 Bull fed no9 Dukelow who waited and gave Duggan a well timed pass to put him in the clear. Duggan waited for the cover defence to get in place before crashing over with 3 defenders hanging on. ( score 0-5 ).

Woodham were now playing some excellent structured rugby and two line breaks by Duggan and Murphy put Woodham into an attacking position and an inside pass to captain Gittos put him one on one with the Braintree full back but it was no match and Gittos crashed over and Brown converted. ( score 0-12 ).

After 20 mins Braintree got into the game with a nice inside pass from their no 10 and then good use of the ball by the backs put no 15 Whyatt in for a try, which was converted. ( 7-12 ).

Braintree then scored a penalty for a high tackle. ( score 10-12 ).

Woodham scored next after a missed touch by Braintree, Price ( who had been a threat all game ) ran the ball back and set up a great position for Langley to crashed over with at least 3 defenders in his path. Brown who was kicking well converted the try. ( score 10-19 ).

Woodham were then awarded a penalty in the Braintree half and with everyone waiting for a kick to touch Dukelow decided to run the ball . Woodham eventually set up a maul on the Braintree 5 metre line and Marshall who has not played for 3 months had enough puff to fall over the line and the conversion was successful from Brown. ( half time score 10-26 ).

Woodham started the second half has they finished the first. After 17 mins a Woodham scrum on the Braintree 5 metre line was fed to Duggan again and the eventually ruck was fed along the backs and Harper cut a sublime line from full back and scored under the posts. The conversion was successful. ( score 10-33 ).

At this stage Woodham hit the fitness wall and used the bench to counter this. Braintree were now getting the upper hand in the scrum and worked their way back into the game. After 25 mins they scored a try from Crush after good work on the blind side and the conversion was successful. ( 17-33 ).

This was followed by a good team try end in some good hands by the backs allowing Whyatt to score his second try. ( score 22-33 ). Woodham then found some energy and scored a great team try when Dukelow using firstly a show and go to create some space and then his bulk to crash over. Brown converted to put the game safe. ( score 22-40 ).

Braintree never gave up and a well work try from Pickles was just dessert for their play. ( Final score 29 – 40 to Woodham with both teams picking up try bonus points. ).
Woodham have done the double over Braintee but both games home and away were very close. The rugby was enjoyable and both teams can be happy with their performances after long breaks.

Woodham will have to work on their one up tackling but the mauls were a credit to the coaching staff both in attack and defence. MOM was difficult as the whole team contributed but the author chose Greg for taking all the early kick offs and with his phenomenal work rate show him make contribution all over the park.

Woodham tries Duggan, Gittos, Langley, Marshall, Harper and Dukelow. Conv Brown 5

Braintree tries Whyatt 2, Crush and Pickles. Joslin pen and 3 conv.