Plenty to learn from Braintree game

Thurrocks Under 12 team hosted Braintree on Sunday looking to continue how they finished their game against Billericay last week.

Unfortunately for the young Tees, they started this game much like they started last week's and showed their opponents too much respect as the visitors raced into a convincing early lead.

One of the best features of this young team is their "never say die" attitude and their togetherness as a team.

Tees got their first try in spectacular fashion. Daniel Kahn, in his first game of the season hit Thomas Rumsby with a pass on Tees try line. Last week's "Player of the Match" smashed through the first line of defence, then the 2nd to run the length of the field for a deserved try.

Logan Scott started to get more involved and put in a great clearance kick followed by an amazing kick chase.

Connor McNally was also getting on the ball more and went on a long run as he glided past Braintree defenders before setting up a further Thurrock attack.

Thurrocks 2nd try came following a great kick return from Rio Swart. Rio carried the all past numerous defenders before taking it into contact. As Tee's recycled the ball, Benji Hammersley fed the ball to George Battie, who went on a trademark run from 20 meters out. The speedster dodged and weaved through the Braintree defence to score under the posts.

The 2nd half started with a tough collision as Kahn looked to put a big hit in. A shoulder injury put an end to his game.

This seemed to rile the rest of the team up as there were more tackles and Tees best passage of the game with Jack Power leading the way putting some massive hits in. He was ably supported by Jaxon Stanley, Jacob Jiggens & Joseph Howlett as Tees shored up their defence with some much improved tackling

In attack, Josh Weale's influence was increasing with some great carries. Another turnover at a ruck saw another quick pass from Benji Hammersley to Weale. Josh then burst through the defence before showing them a clean set of heals to dot down for Tee's 3rd try

Tees fourth try was one of the best the team has put together with nearly every player involved. Jack Power carried the ball deep into the Braintree defence. Captain, Ben Harper who was impressive all day at Scrum-half spun the ball out wide to Josh Weale who drew in the defence before offloading to Benji Hammersley. The youngster was inches from the line before an indiscretion by the visitors gave Thurrock a free pass.
Jaxon Stanley took a quick pass to Sonny Campbell and the powerhouse smashed through 4 or 5 defenders before stretching and touching the ball down over the line.

Braintree were a very impressive team and their work at ruck time probably gave them the game, although it was great to see Thurrock improve massively in this area with Nicholas McDermott leading from the front as he threw his body into nearly every ruck in the final quarter.

The final Tees try was another impressive finish as the boys moved the ball into space to find Thomas Rumsby who once again smashed through the defence to dot down for his fourth try of the season.

It was great to see the injured Oliver Wall out supporting and helping to guide his team from the sidelines today as he continues his recovery

Tees now move onto a week of training to improve on their game before we travel to Burnham for the first time on the 24th October