(London League 2 North)

On recent form Old Albanians came to Robbs Wood full of confidence on Saturday and looking forward to two easy league points and a points tally that would greatly improve their standing in this division.

The news when they arrived that Braintree centre Matthew Wadforth had injured himself again during the Thursday night training session gave them greater optimism with their own highly rated mid-field partnership intact.

In the event only Andy Tunningley touched the ball for Braintree, as he kicked off, before the first try was scored.

Caught cleanly, the ball was driven upfield by the forwards, then when released to the backs some slick handling opened the gap for George Truelove to touchdown and Jamie Renvoize converted.

From the re-start two yellow card decisions meant prop Matthew Bartholomew had to leave the field of play and now Braintree were down to 14 men.

However, this inspired the Black and Ambers to produce one of their best performances.

From the front-row, where Nigel Mann came on for Bartholomew, and then had to be replaced when injured, to Ian Regan at fullback, total commitment was the order of the day.

Old Albanians' front five were a powerful force to contain, but the missing players was not noticeable as they held their own in all aspects of play.

A moment of inspiration by Jack Gibson saw him chip the advancing defence then as the ball bobbled about in the goal area he was first to touch it down for a try.

Braintree kept the pressure on the visitor's line. As they battled to cross over, inevitably the defence gave away a penalty, in front of the posts.

As Albanians drifted back expecting a conversion attempt Darren Page took a tap ball, and spun the ball out wide for Ian Regan to cross over unopposed.

The Hertfordshire outfit pulled themselves together in an attempt to drive Braintree off the park, as they had expected, but they did not reckon with the determination of the home side.

Both centres, Stuart Lewis and Paul Spelman, made their opposite numbers look ordinary with a series of crunching tackles halting them in their tracks, and the forwards rose to greater heights matching their counterparts blow by blow.

At the interval Braintree just had the advantage, 10-7. Braintree's Ian Saward was then stopped almost on the line, then Matt Holyoak retrieved possession and dived over for a try. It seemed the Black and Ambers were more than capable of winning, but a quick return try by Chris Jones, converted by Renvoize, brought the scores closer.

Albanians sensed victory. Using their pack they encamped themselves on the Braintree line, but the pack dug deep to hold them out for a long series of set scrums. A penalty given away in the pressure let Renvoize kick Albanians into the lead.

The Black and Ambers came back again and struck when Stuart Lewis snatched a drop goal and the lead again.

As the final minutes ticked by Braintree looked good, but another series of five metre scrums proved just too much for the pack to endure.

The Albanian eight made one last effort, and Steve Bedford slid off the side of the scrum with the ball for the winning try, which Renvoize converted.

l Tomorrow (Saturday) there is a break from the league and Braintree play Bury St Edmunds through the club down to the fourths, with the firsts and thirds at home. The fifths are away to Clacton II.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.