BRAINTREE RUGBY UNION FOOTBALL CLUB 2014/15 SEASON.
Any copy queries to BRUFC Publicity Officer John Troup on 07860-179347.

BASILDON...17 BRAINTREE...13 (London North East Two)

LUCKLESS Braintree are still searching for their first win of the London NE2 season after succumbing to a fourth straight defeat at the hands of Essex rivals Basildon on Saturday.
And yet again a spate of late squad withdrawals due to injuries and other commitments left Tree to rue coming away from a game they had high hopes of winning with only a solitary bonus point to show for their efforts after a frustratingly narrow defeat
The black and ambers started well and after early pressure forced the home side to give a way a penalty that Kingsley Joslin converted to give his side a 3-0 lead after five minutes.
This stung Basildon into action and they resumed in determined fashion, quickly forcing a penalty of their own which was converted by their fly-half and man of the match Ridley to level the scores
Spurred on by their quick response the hosts then exploited poor tackling in the Braintree defence to open up the visitors, with full-back Randall skipping past several half-hearted challenges to score in the left hand corner, Ridley converting for a 10-3 interval lead.
Despite a slow start to the second half Tree eventually got their scrum working and they started to get on top, leading to Basildon losing two of their front row and their front replacement.
Bizarrely the game was allowed to continue with uncontested scrums for 10 minutes until the referee realised Basildon had 15 players on the pitch when they should have had 14!
One of the home side’s front row forwards did return to the fray a short time later, triggering a brief return to proper scrummaging, only to injure himself again, leaving the man in the middle to switch back to passive scrums amid much confusion.
Tree threw Elliot Dawson on as a replacement and some probing play by Darren Page and powerful running from James Moore enabled the latter to score an uncoverted try on 67 minutes to narrow the deficit to 10-8.
But after working so hard to claw themselves back into the game some poor play and disappointing tackling by Tree let Basildon hit back almost immediately, converting their third try of the afternoon for a 17-8 lead.
Driven on by their own disappointment Tree continued to press and rejected an easy penalty chance to run the ball instead, Dawson completing a fine move with a dummy pass and dive over to cut the hosts’ lead to 17-13.
But try as they might they were unable to inflict more damage in the time remaining and a relieved Basildon held on for the win.
BRUFC Joint Coach Brian Joslin said: “It was disappointing once again to have to field a side that was quite different to the one chosen at selection on Thursday due to injuries and people dropping out.
“We need all the bodies we can get at the moment as nothing is going for us but the lads who took to the field gave their all and we weren’t far off at the final whistle.
“Nobody likes to start the season with four straight defeats but we will turn this round. Our confidence is lacking at the moment but I’m sure that first win will get us up and running.”
Joslin’s men face another daunting task at Robbs Wood this Saturday when they entertain another south Essex side in the shape of Rochford Hundred.