BRAINTREE 81

BURNHAM-ON-CROUCH 0

Canterbury Jack Essex 1B

RAMPANT Braintree made it eight wins out of eight as Essex rivals Burnham became the latest victims of the Black and Amber juggernaut.

Braintree are one of only ten teams in the RFU pyramid to have won all their games since the start of the 2016/17 season.

And what makes the scale of their latest victory even more impressive was the fact that they fielded three debutants after injuries and unavailability forced them into a major reshuffle.

After being hammered 79-15 by Braintree at their own ground earlier in the campaign, the portents didn’t look good for the men from the Dengie Peninsula.

Braintree penned the visitors inside their own 22 straight from kick-off, forcing a succession of penalties at the scrum which ended when James Abbott crashed over to score.

Craig Willis added the extra points with the boot and ten minutes later debutant Tinashe Mlambo powered through to score try number two after a strong run.

Once again Willis notched the conversion to leave Braintree 14-0 to the good and their opponents fearing a long afternoon on the back foot.

A hamstring injury to second row Dan Johnston led to another reshuffle, which saw Henry Williams make his debut for the Black and Ambers.

But Braintree kept in their stride and on 20 minutes winger Tom Drew scored try number three after a strong midfield break by another debutant Philip Walsh, to extend their lead to 19-0.

On 24 minutes Joss Adams added try number four from a pass by Willis, who then added the conversion.

And the lethal Willis was on hand again four minutes later, kicking the extra points after winger Fergus Rollit-Mason finished off a fine backs move to see Braintree in 33-0 at half-time.

The one-way traffic continued after the break with Daryl Coote bustling over on 48 minutes and new boy Williams was next on the score sheet, finishing neatly after a great break by flanker Mikey Benfield.

Two minutes later Adams scored his second try of the game straight from the re-start as he latched on to a kick through from Willis, who kicked the conversion to bring up the half-century of points.

On 55 minutes Willis added his name to the list of try scorers when he glided through Burnham’s beleaguered defence before converting his own effort, before tries from Drew and Benfield took the score to 67-0.

Further tries from Dylan Moss and Will Turner, both converted by Willis, took Braintree over the 80-point mark in a league match for the second time this season.

Braintree: Abbott, Drew, Adams, Walsh, Rollit-Mason, Willis, Page, Coote, W Turner, M Turner, Johnston, Apps, Carslake, Benfield, Mlambo. Reps: Moss, Williams, Lee.