BERFC A 17 - 50 Upminster A

On the weekend that BERFC visited Wembley Stadium to pick up a trophy for winning HML Division 4 at U15s, Upminster were the visitors to Byng Road. Thirty one BERFC players had made the trip to Wembley on Friday evening, but with a mounting number of injuries only twenty three were willing and able come Sunday, so with Upminster bringing an A and a B squad we’d called on Hendon U16s to help form a Barbarians side to face Upminster Bs.

Upminster As play in Essex Division 1 – and with the BERFC boys minds still appearing to be somewhere back in North West London, Upminster were soon into their stride. With a big set of strong running and well drilled players they put BERFC to the sword in the first half and ran in six unanswered tries to draw clear by 38 points to nil.

With some pertinent points from the coaches ringing in their ears, BERFC were playing for pride in the second half – and to give them credit, well worked tries from Luke and Ryan finally got BERFC on the score sheet. Both teams scored further tries, before Upminster crossed once more with the final play of the game – and the match finished 17 – 50.

No quibbles with the result – Upminster As were a very good outfit. For the BERFC boys a timely reminder that everyone needs to turn up on time, warm up as a team, focus and work hard - especially as we now look to take on stronger opposition. In defence we need to react quickly to how the opposition are set out. On the plus side, we managed to do that in the second half – but the game was over as a contest by then.

This defeat should serve as a very valuable lesson and hopefully stand the boys in good stead in upcoming matches.