Having not beaten the Brentwood Eels in three years, and a frustrating run of results where the Tigers have seemed to not know how to win at times, you'd have been forgiven for thinking that this weekend was going to end in familiar fashion... But something has been building this year at the club and it was only a matter of time before things started to click.

Having come up 4 points short against both Hammersmith and North Herts Crusaders, finding a win in close games seemed to be eluding us in 2024. A string of injuries to key personnel hasn't helped. And while that shouldn't be an excuse it is a harsh reality face by coach Rob Ashton.

The return of Lewis Swindells from broken ribs, Lewis Sharp from a dead leg and Josh Spearing from an ACL injury were all very timely for the long away trip. And for the first time this season we were able to field a first choice spine which added some much needed structure to our attack!

Despite going two scores down in the opening quarter of the game it never felt like we weren't competing and once we got a foothold in the game we built enough pressure for 18 year old ever present, Luke Wilson to open our account.

The game remained stubborn and trailing by four at the half there were just some minor adjustments to be made. Dan Barber and Lewis Sharp both proved handfuls up the middle while the defensive effort of Lewis Swindells should be commended. 36 tackles from the former Hemel Stag was the most by any Tigers player this season!

The game continued to ebb and flow and inevitably the wing strike force of Brad McKenna and Josh Hudson-Lett made their mark scoring three between them.

A Brentwood try in the midst kept us honest before James Little latched onto a Bailey Thomas kick to settle some nerves before the Tigers calmly saw the game out knowing two scores was a tough ask with very little time on the clock.

The Eels had the final say right on full time but the job was done.

The win will give the side some real confidence ahead of the second half of the season which sees us playing at home for 5 of the remaining 7 games before the playoffs!

First up in that run are table toppers Wests Warriors on June 15th.

Trys: McKenna x2, Hudson-Lett, Little, Wilson
Goals: Spearing 0/5
Man of the Match: James Litchfield