Chiltern were clearly nervous and with skipper Tom Grammenos still sidelined with a calf injury, they struggled to gain any momentum in a first half littered with mistakes and wrong options. Brentwood were by far the more cohesive side and strong driving play by the big forwards kept Chiltern pinned in their own half.

On the occasional sortie into Brentwood’s half, Chiltern just could not retain possession and it was no surprise that after a missed penalty by Chiltern, Brentwood went straight back upfield and forced Chiltern to concede a penalty in front of their posts which Brentwood’s excellent fly half kicked for a 3-0 lead.

Chiltern managed an occasional attack but another mistake led to a sustained period of pressure by Brentwood and an excellent try after some splendid ball retention and good handling. 8-0 down and with little quality possession, Chiltern somehow hung on with some last ditch defence to turn round at half time with the score still the same.

Some pretty stern words in the half time interval from Head Coach Richie Williams clearly had the desired effect as a much more savvy start to the second half and with some better quality ball saw Chiltern finally take the attack to Brentwood. An excellent break by Philip Blake and Aaron Doyle forced Brentwood to give ground and concede the first of several penalties the second of which was kicked by Andy Fluker, 8-3. However a missed tackle allowed Brentwood to get back into Chiltern’s half and although the move was stopped it resulted in a penalty which Brentwood again kicked to restore their lead at 11-3.

To be fair to Chiltern this was now against the run of play as it was clear that the big Brentwood forwards were tiring. Chiltern started to keep possession and run the ball from everywhere. Several good breaks were in evidence and after 19 minutes and a determined run by Tom Blackburn a couple of passes and an offload put Joe Butler clear and over the line for Chiltern’s first try well converted by Andy Fluker, 11-10 and Chiltern now in control.

Five minutes later Chiltern ran the ball out of their 22 and a long pass found Tom Handford charging through the middle, although he didn’t have the pace to make the line an inside pass to Jordan Scott carried the ball on and outstanding full back Chris Jack was on hand to dive over the line to put Chiltern in front for the first time. The try was converted by Andy Fluker, 11-17.

There were still 15 minutes to play and but for some desperate Brentwood defence and a couple of missed opportunities Chiltern could have put the game away and provide their massive travelling support with less heart stopping moments!

The last five minutes were nerve racking to say the least but good defence and a couple of lucky bounces saw Chiltern come through a massive test with the win that they so desperately wanted. Relief all round and congratulations from Brentwood who were wonderful and gracious hosts. They are a super rugby club and everyone was agreed that they had witnessed a smashing game of rugby with the best team, just, squeaking through.

Two more games to go and two bonus point wins are needed for guaranteed promotion. The show moves on to Weedon Lane next week when we entertain Letchworth another very good side who pushed Chiltern all the way at their ground earlier in the season.

Kick off is 3pm so please come and support this special bunch of guys who are giving everything to get back into the National Leagues.