Birth Certificates Please!

You could feel the nervous tension in the air in the hours building up to kick off and not just because the Deltours bus didn't look like it was going to turn up! I've never heard the boys so quiet and as the men were also a bundle of nerves (not that they'd admit it!) they had to break open the beers at around 10 o'clock. Yes we are talking 10 in the morning!
The boys looked happier once they were out warming up and Ian gave his team talk, emphasising the need for no lip and for the forwards to hit Westcliff early and give the backs the platform they need. And then the match finally kicked off!
The start however didn't go to plan. It seemed nerves were playing a big part in the very slow start as the boys weren't performing to their usual high standards. Gradually though the Brentwood boys looked to be getting into the game and were putting together a good passage of play until Westcliff turned the ball over and went charging down the middle. Fortunately Roland was on hand to make a thumping tackle, probably a try saving one. Brentwood then gained a couple of penalties and got themselves into the Westcliff half but lost the ball. Westcliff capitalised on this Brentwood mistake and made good ground and inside the Brentwood 22 sent through a great kick. Despite the covering Brentwood player's best efforts Westcliff regained possession and went over to score a try. The conversion hit the post and Westcliff were 5-0 up.
It seemed that the Brentwood boys head's visibly dropped, not being used to chasing games too often this season, but fortunately half time came.
The half time talk must have been inspired. I'm told by my sources that Ian said "You've had your 25 minutes warm up now go out and win" but regardless of whether this is true or not whatever he said worked as Brentwood came out after the break and blew Westcliff away, the nerves seemed to have vanished and Brentwood seemed to have got their belief back.
Chris McCarthy continued making good breaks as he had done in the first half and there was some good picking up and going around the fringes of the rucks from both Sam Morgan and Rob Finnerty. The rest of the forwards also upped a gear, forming a powerful maul which surged from some way out over the try line. It was judged to have been held up and Brentwood had the scrum. From the scrum Brentwood set up another maul which was bought down just before the line and William Bassenger picked and went to gain a further bit of ground. The ball was recycled and Rob Finnerty went over to score, the conversion was missed and the scores were level at 5 all.
Brentwood now visibly believed they could win and Sam Morgan's run from a quick tapped penalty summed up the new Brentwood energy as he bounced a Westcliff player off his head in a storming run. The Westcliff player was unfortunately injured due to this and had to be stretchered off the pitch, Sam you must have one hard head!
After the stoppage Brentwood continued to exert pressure and a neat break from captain Michael Dennis looked to have put Joel in acres of space only for play to be called back for a forward pass. Not long after, on the opposite side of the pitch, some good breaks and interlinking between Sam Fry and Jordan Hill sent Michael down the touchline and heading for the corner where he was just caught short and put out.
From the lineout something very surreal happened; Chris McCarthy managed to take a magnificent two handed catch on the opposition throw in! Another maul was set up and went to ground but the ball was recycled very quickly and Adam Mathias did well to keep play moving quickly, getting the ball and quickly moving it to James Paton at centre. James crashed into the Westcliff defence and managed to stretch far enough to put the ball down just over the line, 10-5 Brentwood and with the time remaining if the conversion was scored the worst case scenario would have been a draw and extra time. Billy Aldous though can always be relied on to miss vital kicks and had his conversion attempt charged down! (Apparently I always abuse Billy in the match report so why change a habit! In fairness to Billy though Westcliff did extremely well to get to the ball as it was an extremely well struck kick.) 10-5 to Brentwood and only 5 minutes remaining!
From the restart Brentwood tried to keep the pressure up but conceded a turnover and Westcliff hoofed the ball down field for their players to chase. Roland was unlucky as the ball stopped before it went in to the goal area and he had to play it but he did extremely well to stay on his feet long enough for support to arrive. Due to a maul being set up and going to ground without Brentwood being able to get the ball Westcliff had an attacking scrum too close to the Brentwood line for comfort and as the forwards packed down for the scrum I thought somebody was going to have to bring me an oxygen tank and by the sounds of things I wasn't the only one who felt that way! Thankfully Matt Whaley, always so lethally quick with his hooking, managed to snaffle the ball against the head and the ball was cleared into touch. Surely the final whistle but no, there was still time for the lineout and it was all still too close to the Brentwood line. Brentwood again managed to regain possession, I'm not sure if they stole the lineout or turned the ball over or what, I was too busy screaming but the ball was again kicked towards the touchline, and after what seemed like an eternity bounced out and then there it was, the final whistle! Brentwood under 14s were the Essex Cup winners!!
All joking aside, in the second half especially, all the boys played well and nobody out shone any of the others, the unused replacements also deserve a big mention for keeping team morale up and for being part of the squad that got Brentwood to the final in the first place, without vital performances in earlier games there would have been no final! Commiserations to Westcliff who were worthy opponents, very gracious in defeat and provided an extremely stern test for us.
I did try and get a quote from Coach Ian but for once he was speechless and by the time I remembered I didn't have a quote he was paraletic drunk and not talking any sense anyway! Captain Michael Dennis commended his team mates saying, "It was a hard game but I'm proud of all the boys and very glad to win." Chris Doble echoed these thoughts saying "It was hard work but we kept hold of the ball and cleared up at the end, it was a very good game." William Bassenger added that again "It was a difficult game but we found our strength in picking and going."
Unfortunately that was where the helpful quotes ended but for entertainment purposes I thought I'd include some of the better ones:
Matt Gray - "My nose hurts."
Joel - "I didn't get the ball."
Rob - "There was some good singing in the showers. Nice socks!" I'm not entirely sure whose socks he was talking about...
Sam Morgan - "It's the first time I've had a bleeding nose but it was bloody awesome!"
But by far the best was Chris McCarthy with the classic, "The food here's good."
A good day was had by all, although I'm sure there'll be some sore heads this morning, well done to all the boys and to any parents that were whinging at me after the game for never mentioning them in the match report, I'm open to bribes!