A large and vociferous crowd gathered at Broomfield, full of expectation, for the derby game between Brods and Crocs. Conditions were excellent on this cold and dry wintry day, but the atmosphere in the Crocs' tiny ground was more than enough to compensate for any shivers.

The Brods had something of a makeshift team out with several key players missing but the strength in depth of their young reserves always guaranteed a competitive team would be fielded.

The hosts opened proceedings kicking off from right to left from the stand side. Following a Crocs' knock on and Brods' scrum, a penalty was awarded to the visitors. Visiting full back Slattery made no mistake slotting over a fine kick from 40 metres after only 3 minutes played, showing the Brods' iintention of taking whatever points are on offer.
Following the subsequent kick off the Crocs went through a number of phases impressively making good ground. Following a lost ball, the Brods were penalised themselves for crossing, offering a simple 3 points for the home side which were duly taken. 3-3 after 7 minutes played. At the following kick off the game came alive when the Crocs fly half launched a mighty kick to the heavens from his own half the Brods. The visiting defence completely missed the ball, and the ever-alert home backs, racing up to play, hacked on and won the foot race to touch down under the posts. The conversion took the score to 10-3 after only 12 minutes played and the home fans were gloating – a wakeup call to Brods!

From the resumption it was the Brods turn to enjoy some possession following a ball steal at the line out and penalty conceded by the Crocs. A dropped ball by the Brods gave the home team a scrum but the ball was quickly recovered and spread wide where fast hands allowed debutant winger, number 11 Ciaran Raistrick, to cross for a try in the top right-hand corner. The difficult conversion was narrowly missed but at 10 -8 the Brods were now in the game after 16 minutes.

The next period saw the Crocs pressing after a fine kick to the visitors 22 but a Slattery return put them back in their own half. They were soon driving forward again on the left side and on the visitors' 22, when a fine piece of jackaling saw Cam Wroot steal possession and race 50 metre into home territory before the attack fizzled out. The attack continued with Dawson and Doug Hesletine making prominent bursts, but Crocs were defending well. However, the Brods forwards were in control at this juncture and following another Brods' scrum the ball was spread to the right again where winger Raistrick sored his second try of the game. Again, the conversion was narrowly missed from a difficult angle but at 10-13 after 30 minutes played the visitors were now in the lead.

The Crocs restarted with a kick into the Brods territory where after a couple of phases Hodkinson relieved pressure with a kick to touch. Brods forwards were settling in against the bigger opposing set of forwards and driving well, with Imiolek catching the eye, and their scrum was functioning well, driving the heavier home pack backwards at the set piece.

Influential Dunne was prompting the back line and a high cross field kick to Raistrick offered the opportunity for young winger to score again, only for the ball to be lost. After a scrappy period of play at halfway, a long Slattery kick found touch within 10 metres of the home line. From the line out the Crocs were unable to clear their lines, and the ball was spilled to the dominant Brods, who after a couple of phases were able to score again through Alex Murphy breaching the line close to the posts. Slattery comfortably converting making the score 10-20 after 36 minutes and no further points were scored in an entertaining first half, which the Brods had dominated and were well worthy of their lead.

When the second half began it was evident that we were in a December day and the visibility was decidedly gloomier than kick off. Brods resumed where they left off in the first half with Dunne dictating matters in midfield. A scrum to Crocs was driven back resulting in an injury to a Crocs' back and the referee stopped play temporarily some 40 metres from the Crocs' line.
Brods were retaining possession, and on 47 minutes the tireless Elliott Craven burst through the Crocs' line from halfway drawing the fullback before passing to Hodkinson to race through to score under the post for a 4th and bonus point try. With a successful conversion taking the score 10 -27, and the home fans silenced, it felt that the Brods were on course for a comfortable victory.

With visibility becoming gloomier and the playing surface heavier underfoot, however, the conditions began to favour the bigger men in the home pack, who certainly had not given up the game for lost, and were now playing with determination believing they could get something out of the game. Some 4 minutes later with 51 minutes played following an exchange of kicks, the Crocs won possession in the Brods' 22 and now adopted the pickup and drive tactic where almost immediately they crossed the line from close range. A successful conversion took the score to 17 – 27. There was a feeling now that the Crocs were back in business with almost half an hour to play.

However, the Brods were immediately back on the attack and camped in the Crocs' 22 but were now tiring and under increasingly murky conditions seemed to have lost their earlier penetration. It looked like stalemate with each team enjoying long kicks gaining field position and retaining possession driving forward. There was a feeling that it was now the Crocs forwards who were in control and following a penalty and a number short-range drives, on 71 minutes the Crocs scored again from a series of these close-range drives. It was not pretty but effective against the tiring visiting forwards. The conversion was missed but at 22-27 and with almost 10 minutes to go it led to a nail-biting conclusion.

Play resumed and Brods retained possession in the forwards and soon won a penalty for offside some 40 metres out from the home line. Fullback Slattery was narrowly wide with the attempt at goal on 74 minutes. However, Brods were also playing a clever game maintaining possession whilst running the clock down, but on 77 minutes the indefatigable Cameron Wroot burst clear of the visiting defence from 25 metres and almost crab like took the inside path to the try line and scored a spectacular solo try taking the score to 22-34 with the conversion. Indeed, a match winning try reminiscent of Cam's glory days,

With scarcely 2 minutes on the clock the Crocs resumed play and their big forwards played with immense spirit and tenacity seeking a bonus point. After regaining possession and attacking the Brods' line for a full 5 minutes aided by a succession of scrums and penalties they eventually forced their way over the try line to touch down deep into injury time. This for the last play of the game bringing the final score to 29 -34 for the visitors. This brought to an end a full 'blood and thunder' derby in which both teams played their part in an entertaining game – a credit to Regional League 2 North rugby.

Although numerically the game seemed close, I felt that the Brods were always going to hold their lead despite a few nervous moments.

This league is a tough one and the Crocs accounted for themselves extremely well belying their lowly league position. With recent home wins against leading opponents the Crocs will continue to be tough opponents in this league for seasons to come.