The Safer Option

Brentwood Town  0  Heybridge Swifts  1

Isthmian League – Division One North

Regular blog readers, of which I know there are at least three of you, will recall an aborted trip to Romford FC before Christmas.

Over the past few months the Brentwood Arena pitch that both Romford and Brentwood Town share, has been a cause of many a postponement. Which is fine, the weather has been extraordinary in terms of the levels of rain, but it seems, or it certainly seemed at the time that Town were very good at advising on pitch inspections and such like, whereas Romford it appeared, less so.

The day I went, I paid my money over just as the match referee was inspecting the pitch, and indeed calling it off. Any warning of an inspection? No not a thing. I then noticed a couple of weeks ago the exact same happened to AFC Sudbury, they turned up with no warning of any issues, and guess what.

To be fair to Romford, the guy on the Twitter account was very apologetic to me about what happened, but once bitten twice shy, I made the decision that I would try and visit when it was a Brentwood game, largely because of the lines of communication being that bit better and more reliable.

I’d been working in Milton Keynes, with an overnight stay on the day of the game, so when Brentwood tweeted to say that there was no need for a pitch inspection, I was safe in the knowledge that I could travel down the M1 and round the M25 in confidence.

I got to the Arena a good hour and a half before kick off, the motorways having behaved superbly, and having this time paid my money and been re-assured that the pitch was fine (as it could be), I settled down in the clubhouse and surveyed the scene.

The Brentwood Arena is on the North side of the Essex town, almost underneath the A12 that links the M25 with Chelmsford and beyond. It’s located next door to a large leisure centre and shares the car park, but whether the two are connected in any way in terms of ownership / landlords I really don’t know, but it’s safe to say that it’s a busy place.

Once through the turnstiles, which are behind the goal, you have a seated stand to the left which is of a somewhat temporary nature, while right next to it is an area of covered terracing, both of which are behind the goal. The only other furniture sits on the side to the right of the turnstiles, and that consists of a tea bar, a stand with a clubhouse and changing rooms to the rear, and a further smaller stand joined to it, but seemingly an add on to the original structure.

The pitch looked fine from the side, but you could see two areas that had been a problem, they were much darker than the rest of the pitch and it was plain to see as the players walked on the surface pre-match that it was definitely wetter in those areas. It was fine though, and perfectly playable.

Brentwood Town have not always been known by that name. Prior to 2004 they were known as plain and simple Brentwood, and before that, back in the early Seventies they were known as Brentwood Athletic. Going back even further to the start of the Seventies they were known as Manor Athletic. Another Brentwood Town was around in the late Sixties, but from what I can gather, they are not connected to the current club. I’ve not gone back any further, I fear I may be losing readers, so I’ll start with when they were just Brentwood.

The Essex Senior League, that was it, for all the time they were known as that name, winning it just the once in 2001. The change to Brentwood Town saw them win the league again in their third season under the new name, and with it came a first ever promotion to the Isthmian League, where they were place in Division One North.

It all got very exciting in the 2014-15 season when victories over AFC Sudbury and Thurrock saw them win the play-offs and with it promotion to the Premier Division. It lasted one season, they were punching somewhat, and they are now back from whence they came, and to be fair this season, struggling a bit, sitting fourth from bottom.

The visitors Heybridge Swifts knew that a victory would take them to the top of the table, albeit sides around them do have games in hand, notably cup heroes Maldon & Tiptree. On paper, you would have expected a routine away win, but in reality it doesn’t always work out like that.

The first half finished 0-0 and to be fair it was quite even up to that point. However, while still a close game, in the second period it was the visitors who had the slight edge, and they broke the Brentwood hearts in the 84^th minute when Alexander Teniola fired high into the net from the edge of the six yard box after a low cross from the left hand side.

Brentwood should be fine. Romford sit bottom but with games in hand and Glenn Tamplin’s money, while both Basildon United and Felixstowe are in the next two places but both have played more games that Brentwood. The bottom team only is at risk of relegation, and even then they have to lose in a play-off against someone like Hashtag United!

The journey back was a nightmare. The exit from the M25 onto the M1 was closed so it was a detour via St Albans to get on the motorway at Hemel Hempstead. Then, the M1 was closed just North of Luton, so we all got off at Dunstable and joined a queue of lorries working their way up the A5 towards MK.

Not to worry though, the problematic Brentwood Arena was in the bag, finally.