Braintree edged a tight match which was competitive to the end in a tough encounter in difficult conditions at Humber Doucy Lane. Wind and rain had left the pitch very soft and Ipswich played into the teeth of a gale in the first half and benefited from the same conditions for the second period.

Handling was never going to be easy with a strong wind, wet pitch and intermittent rain throughout. Smart kicks early on gave Braintree good territory and when they gained a lineout in the Ipswich 22 their rolling maul was impressive and difficult to stop, a series of strong forward drives led to the first try wide right and unconverted on 5 minutes. Ipswich found it difficult to escape their own 22 and it was Jake Hosking who impressed with a strong wide break handing off a number of tacklers before being held only 15 metres from the Braintree line, the offload was good and the path to the line was clear but a handling error gave Braintree a scrum and an opportunity to clear the ball deep into Ipswich territory. Ipswich were defending well and it looked as though Ipswich would hold Braintree to 5 points at half time before a final forward drive in the Ipswich 22 gave Braintree a second try and with a conversion a 12 point lead as the teams turned round.

It was Braintree’s turn to defend second half. Ipswich kicked smartly to gain territory but Braintree to their credit defended very well holding up strong runs from Ipswich players time and again. Finally on 13 minutes the pressure paid off with strong runs first from Dantay Ward and an emphatic final drive from Tom White to score in traffic. A smart conversion from Sam Donnelly narrowed the gap to 7-12 and with nearly 15 minutes remaining it seemed that Ipswich had to make the territorial advantage pay. Ipswich backs passed smartly right through all hands – Bolton, Donnelly, Rudolph, Ximinez to free Jake Hoskings wide right but Braintree defensive heroics held Jake just short and a try was denied. Ipswich pressed again through forwards and backs but time and again they were rebuffed held up and denied by some committed tackle defence. When Braintree gained a scrum in overtime they secured the ball and kicked it out to end the match.

It was a game that could have gone either way. Very tight and in the balance until the end but Braintree won well by 7-12. Both sides were incredibly committed and the spectators had witnessed a great match of rugby football, a credit to both young sides.