Rochford came back from being behind then seemed to be romping away with the game and then had to defend desperately in the last few minutes to get the result.

With a try count of three to one the home side ,for the middle section of this tense match ,looked the better side and put their opponents under a great deal of pressure and should have won by a larger margin but basic errors and a defiant Romford comeback put paid to that.

Turn over errors after promising moves and a few wrong options let them down but having said that it was an excellent win against strong opposition and once again Rochford’s defence saw them through.

Romford started at a pace and were soon ahead with two penalty kicks and their backs looked as if they were going to run riot.This Rochford team however has a strength about them with the confidence in their own ability to run the ball at will and to knuckle down when required.

This they did and gradually took the game to Romford with their lineout once again performing marvellously with Sam Tape jumping impressively ably assisted by Chipper and Billy Ellis and with all the forwards tackling and generally being aggressive in the loose.Particulary impressive in this aspect of play was George Chipper,Tom Corbet and Michael Stemp but everybody played their part.Full back Dan Allen once again showed what an asset he is with some powerful runs into the Romford defence.

The set scrum held it’s own against the bigger and slightly stronger Romford pack and in fact applied pressure to win some ball against the head and wheeled the scrum to good effect where scrum half Dan Bracknell worked tirelessly all afternoon.

The home side finally put themselves on the score sheet with a tremendous try which came from sustained play in the Romford twenty two and then the ball being passed through many fast hands before finding Greg.Stubbs out on the wing with a little space. This was enough for a man of his pace and experience and he sped over for a magnificent try.

Just before half time more pressure resulted in a penalty which allowed centre Tom Ashton a chance at goal and he took that with pleasure to take the home side ahead 8 – 6 at the break.

Rochford seemed to go up a gear at the start of the second half and more fast flowing play was rewarded with wing Stubbs diving over for his second try.

At this stage in the game it was all Rochford with the visitors appearing rattled and when captain Sam Tape emerged triumphant from under a pile of bodies over the Romford line for his second try of the season to take the score to 18 -6 it looked that Rochford were home and dry.

The game entered the last quarter and Rochford went all out to put their tough rivals away but as all good sides do Romford came back, A penalty after slack Rochford play was kicked over to reduce the deficit but still Rochford pushed hard for a bonus point and put the match out of reach but with only minutes to go the game turned.

A break away from defence by Romford brought them into attacking distance and after some fine defensive work by the home outfit the Romford scrum half found just enough room to slide over under the posts and the conversion was duly slotted over.

Suddenly at 18 -16 with the minutes ticking away and the light fading Rochford had to hang on desperately as Romford threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Magnolia Road lads.Somehow with great defence and a little luck they managed to make it to a most welcome final whistle.