Brentwood 1st XI vs St. Ives 1st XI

On the back of last week's humbling defeat, Brentwood looked to reverse their fortunes and trekked up to last-placed St. Ives, knowing that a win was vital in the battle to get out of the relegation zone.

The game started at a high tempo, and despite having plenty of possession, Brentwood were unable to gain any sort of territory or penetration into the St. Ives half, as the home side had a well-organised high press which put pressure on the defence. Brentwood contested but were always a step behind, as St. Ives grabbed the opener through a freak deflection off of keeper Ian Malone. Brentwood responded well, and turned the Ives defence on the counter, with James Duggan feeding through to Steven Naven, who duly converted. Despite drawing level, Ives were soon up again from a goal-mouth scramble, as it began to look like the previous week for Brentwood, but they managed to hold out for the constant Ives pressure. As the halftime whistle blew, St. Ives were awarded a penalty corner, which they played out and stretched the lead further with a drag-flick, bringing the score to 3-1.

It was a big task Brentwood faced coming into the second half, and they responded strongly. The St. Ives defence grew tired, and allowed much more room for Brentwood to work with, and gave way to more composure on the ball. Brentwood played with much more confidence, which showed, as they had attack after attack, and long phases on the ball. It was well due, as they won a penalty-corner and Steven Naven drag-flicked the ball into the back of the net. Brentwood were filled with energy, and believed that they had found the equaliser when Naven finished from a scrappy melee in front of the goal, but this was strangely downgraded to a short corner, which was met with cheers from the home support, as the ensuing shot was saved. Despite the set-back, the resurgent Brentwood never stopped, and claimed their reward, as after many close chances and near-misses, fine work from Naven down the by-line fed through to a waiting James Duggan, who slapped home to draw level. Brentwood had the ascendancy and fate beckoned as the clock began to tick down. This was no matter as Steven Naven grabbed his third of the match from a fiery drag-flick to give Brentwood a deserved lead for the first time in the game. The home support were silenced. It should have been a simple task of closing out the game in the final minutes but following the theme of the day, Brentwood made nothing easy for themselves and conceded a penalty-corner as the final whistle sounded, however a mis-trap at the top of the circle ended the game 4-3 in Brentwood's favour.