CANVEY ISLAND 6

BRAINTREE 20

Canterbury Jack Essex League 1B

A MAKESHIFT Braintree side kept their 100 per cent record intact with an impressive victory at Canvey Island.

The hard-fought win stretched the Black and Ambers' lead at the top of Canterbury Jack Essex 1B to 13 points and was all the more rewarding for being achieved despite the absence of three key players through injury.

John Smillie, Dan Johnston and Wes Apps all missed the trip to the Thames Estuary, but every one of their replacements did them proud in what was Braintree’s toughest test to date.

The hosts laid siege to the Black and Ambers' defence for the first 20 minutes of the game, but heroic defence meant their only points return was from a solitary penalty kick.

After soaking up all that sustained pressure Braintree finally decided enough was enough and ventured upfield to score with their first attack.

A lovely pass to fly-half Joss Adams was switched inside to inside centre Craig Willis, who drifted through the Canvey defence to score before converting his own try for a 7-3 lead.

Both sides then exchanged successful penalties to see Braintree go in at half-time with a narrow 10-6 lead.

The second half began in the same vein with Canvey, driven on by a partisan crowd, battering the hosts’ defence.

But once again Braintree absorbed the onslaught without surrendering their line before attacking on the break in a move which led to Willis kicking another successful penalty.

The game hung in the balance and the visitors were forced to repel three five-metre scrums in quick succession as the Islanders' far heavier pack looked to seize the advantage.

But after the last of their attacks ended with a knock-on over the line Braintree broke free and began to work their way upfield again.

It seemed only a matter of time before they penetrated the tiring Canvey defence and so it was as Adams left a trail of defenders clutching air in his wake to score the decisive try.

Willis stepped in to notch the conversion and seal a superb 20-6 win for Braintree that was marred only by the ruptured Achilles injury to their veteran hooker Stevie Sewell.

Braintree: Drew, Alexander, Matthew, Willis, Rollit-Mason, Adams, Martindale, Coote, Sewell, Prince, Fitzearle, Mlambo, Benfield, Williams, Carslake. Reps: Perry, W Turner, Lee.