ROCHFORD’S CUP DREAM OVER

It was a hard fought Essex Cup Semi Final contest from start to finish and Rochford had to concede that Romford deserved their victory and came off second best on the day.

Perhaps it was that Rochford expected to win and fell foul of the old adage that you should never underestimate the opposition. They could also look back on the number of missed tackles and some sloppy play which did not help their cause.

It started well with an early try from Marcus Spremulli but Romford replied with a converted try of their own. Another try by flanker Brett Smith, converted by Harry Chipper edged the home side ahead again.

The first half was a frantic and very loose affair with both sides making handling errors and dropping ball in the wet conditions.

Gidea Park’s scrum more than held their own against Rochford’s usual dominant pack and the lineouts were scrappy but both sides tried to run the ball but some hard tackling and mistakes saw many stoppages.

Romford finished the half strongly with a penalty kick and a late converted try to turn at the break 12 – 17 in front.

The second session started badly for Rochford when the visitors went further ahead with another try before second row Scott Wheeler drove over after some good approach work by the forwards and Scott Horsburgh converted to reduce arrears to 19 - 22.

Both sides fought it out hammer and tong and Rochford nearly scored again on a number of occasions but final passes and general misfortune denied them any further score.

As the game drew to a close jubilant Romford rubbed salt into the wound with a late converted try to confirm that on the day they wanted it that much more than their opponents who knew that they had not played up to their usual standard or well enough to win on the day.

Next Saturday an important league match against Cantabrians at home when the lads will have to pick themselves up again and get back into their rhythm.