Woodbridge arrived two players short of a full squad so Callum Thompson and Scott Firman joined the visitors for the first half.

Woodbridge opened the scoring early on. Having won their own line out (not necessarily a foregone conclusion even with them being uncontested) a good break in midfield by their backs allowed their outside centre to outpace the Braintree defence. With the conversion successfully added the home side were quickly 7 points behind.

However, Braintree got their first score on the board through Freddie Moss-Prout. Ewan Banner had kicked a penalty perfectly into touch by the corner and from the line out Braintree formed an attacking maul from which Freddie was able to cross the line. Unfortunately Ewan couldn’t add the conversion

Woodbridge came back, mixing up their attacking play by both running with the ball in hand and kicks over or through the Braintree defence. One such kick almost led to a second try when a Woodbridge player chased the kick over the try line but Thomas Kelly just got back in time to force a knock on by the attacking player. Braintree then enjoyed a period of consistent possession in the Woodbridge half without really threatening the visitor’s line. Eventually a Woodbridge kick out of defence, with a good chase, led to them gaining a penalty well into the Braintree half. In a departure from what we normally see at U15 level, Woodbridge opted to kick for goal and by adding the three points extended their lead.

Braintree evened the scores when Tristain Smith scored a try. From a penalty just inside the Woodbridge half, the ball was passed out to Jack Lenton-Wade who pace nearly took him around the Woodbridge defence. However Tristain Smith was in support when Jack was stopped to carry on the attack and score. Woodbridge came back strongly in an attempt to re-establish their lead and the pressure in the Braintree half eventually told. Having defended stoutly for several minutes the home side eventually ran out of bodies allowing Woodbridge to score in the corner.

The end to end nature of the first half continued when Braintree scored next through Ewan Banner. The Braintree forwards won a scrum against the head in the Woodbridge half. Ewan Banner received the ball at fly half and ran all the way round the visiting defence.

For the second half, Thomas Kelly and Tom Saunders joined the visitors ranks allowing Callum and Scott to join their usual team mates. Braintree scored the first try of the second half. Tristan Smith emerging from an effective maul, set up from a line out close to the Woodbridge line. Ewan Banner converted successfully to put some daylight between the two teams. Jack Lenton-Wade almost extended Braintree’s lead when he received the ball with some space in front of him. His pace took him past two of the Woodbridge backs but he was tackled just short of the line by the full back. Shortly afterwards Tristan Smith did put Braintree further ahead when a quickly taken penalty caught the Woodbridge defence off-guard and he was able to cross the line. Will Wright gave Braintree a more substantial cushion when he was the recipient of quick ball after a Braintree scrum and he was able to beat his opposite number and score.

Woodbridge came back again, scoring from a penalty inside their own half. The instructions from the sideline to kick for touch were ignored and the adventurous approach rewarded when good pace and handling took the ball all the way over the Braintree line. A fifth Woodbridge try seemed to have set up a grandstand finish. However, Ewan Banner quickly scored a seventh Braintree try and Olly Everitt successfully added the conversion, albeit with the help of a fortunate bounce off the cross bar.

Tristan Smith completed the scoring for Braintree following another well worked maul from a lineout close to the Woodbridge line. Woodbridge got a fifth try to keep it interesting until the end but Braintree held out for a win by 8 points.

A good team performance built on some effective forward play, and when they got the ball, strong running by the backs. Woodbridge certainly couldn’t complain about the effort put in by the emergency players provided by their hosts either.