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

BRAINTREE...17 BASILDON...25 (London North East Two)

BRAINTREE’s hopes of notching their first win of the season were left in tatters after their south Essex rivals plundered all the points following a closely fought affair at Robbs Wood on Saturday.
Victory would have enabled Tree to cut down the gap between themselves and third bottom Basildon.
But they now look hopelessly adrift after a frustrating reverse left them a full 12 points from safety, with only Old Cooperians keeping them off the bottom of the table.
Tree kicked off but came under almost immediate pressure, with the visitors playing their way deep into their 22 and forcing them to concede an early penalty.
Basildon took a quick tap and loose head prop Jim Harman ended a swift attacking move to score an unconverted try to give his side a 5-0 lead.
There was no further scoring until the 25th minute when the visitors’ number eight picked up from the back of the scrum in Tree’s 22 and the ball was spread across the field in multiple phases.
The attacking move ended with left wing Bradley Long scoring an unconverted try out wide to extend Basildon’s lead to 10-0.
But the black and ambers gave their long-suffering fans some hope when they hit back straight from the re-start.
Turn over ball and strong running saw Matt McLagan and James Abbott combine to allow second row Neil Fitzearle to crash over for a try converted by Darren Page to reduce the deficit to 10-7.
Alas the crucial next score went to the visitors, Tree conceding a penalty at a ruck which was taken quickly, enabling blind side flanker Marcus Warriner to score.
Fly-half Sam Ridley kicked the resultant conversion to put Basildon firmly back in the driving seat with a 17-7 half-time lead.
The second half was a scrappy affair and somewhat predictably it was the visitors who drew first blood on 63 minutes.
A hacked fly kick bobbled through deep into Tree territory and a great pick up put scrum-half Lee Randall through to score and extend his side’s lead to 22-7.
Blind side flanker Nick Spearman gave Tree a glimmer of hope when he scored following great work by hooker Chris Halford to reduce the deficit to 22-12.
But Basildon twisted the knife with a Ridley penalty to go 25-10 in front, and skipper Tom Carslake’s fine late try was nothing more than a consolation for the beleaguered home side. 25-17.
BRUFC Joint Coach Brian Joslin said: “Sadly our season of woe continues. We all felt this was a game we were capable of winning but availability problems and late cry-offs cost us dear again.
“The lads who took to the field all fronted up and battled away manfully for the whole 80 minutes but we just came up short.
“Neil Fitzearle, Alex Randall and George Crane all had stand-out games for us, but it’s very hard to keep the lads positive at the moment.”
Tree are without a fixture this weekend but return to action on January 31 with a daunting away trip to Rochford Hundred.
“Neil Fitzearle, Alex Randall and George Crane all had stand-out games for us, but it’s very hard to keep the lads positive at the moment.”
Tree are without a fixture this weekend but return to action on January 31 with a daunting away trip to Rochford Hundred.
BRUFC: J Abbott, McLagan, Lee, Randall, Gale, Crane, Page, M Moore, Halford, Baker (Aldridge), Fitzearle, Johnston (Benfield), Spearman, Stephens, Carslake/