BASILDON defeated Braintree and the treacherous conditions to continue their charge for the London Three Essex title.

Table-topping Basildon saw off third-placed Braintree 20-7 to move nine points clear with just three games to go.

But Basildon’s influential fly-half Sam Ridley admitted the wet weather made it hard to succeed on Saturday.

“The conditions were the worst they’ve been all season and I haven’t played in conditions such as that for quite a few years,” said Ridley.

“It certainly changes the way you play.

“Teams can’t throw the ball around as much and it tends to be much more of a battle up front.

“But Braintree struggled with the strength of our pack and the conditions didn’t suit them once they had to chase the game.”

Basildon - who have not lost since the opening day of the season - were able to triumph thanks to tries from Ian Stewart, Dan Rowley and captain Jim Harman.

Ridley, who added a conversion and a penalty, was thrilled to keep the good run of results going.

He said: “We’ve had a few close games over the past few weeks so it was good to put in a solid performance.

“We scored three tries in the first half and started to pull away in the very poor conditions.

“The only downside was not being able to come away with a bonus point. But the pack were brilliant and gave us a solid platform to play with.

“We got the win and couldn’t have asked for much more.”

And Ridley also felt the victory was incredibly important for Basildon’s season.

“Every win has become massively important and Saturday was no exception,” said Ridley.

“We haven’t been performing to our best in the past few weeks so it was good to come away with a well deserved win.”

Basildon will now be bidding to build on the victory at bottom of the table Mavericks this weekend as they aim to move a step closer to winning the win.

“Winning has become a habit for us and we will back ourselves in every game that we go in to,” said Ridley.

“We can’t afford to bring nothing but our best to every game now.

“Teams are wanting to beat us so we need to remain level-headed like we have been and take each game as it comes, but confidence is very high.”