ROCHFORD TOUGH IT OUT TO STAY TOP

On a foggy,dank afternoon with the very soft pitch cutting up Rochford had to dig deep to grind out a hard fought away win against good opposition.

The boys in black started at a furious pace and from a quick attack along the wing by Sean Conneely centre Matt Stewart kicked ahead and outpaced the Saffron defence to dive over in the corner.Stewart was adjudged to have been pushed by a Saffron player as he went over so the referee awarded a penalty try which Tom Ashton duly converted.

A perfect start which was short lived as the home side fought back to gain a penalty kick to pull back three points. Another penalty kick brought them to 7 -6 and it was game on.

Rochford’s lineout was,once again,performing excellently with Tape and Ellis towering over their opposite numbers and the scrummage where the front row of Billy Rowe,Kenton Avis and Tom Corbet worked so tirelessly all afternoon more than held their own.

After the frantic pace of the first quarter the game settled into a pattern with Saffron Walden becoming more of a force in the loose and with their stand off dictating territory with long raking kicks.

An enterprising piece of play by the home side was rewarded with a try to put them in front before Ashton reduced the arrears with a penalty to close the first half 10 -11 .

The damp fog became worse in the second half and Rochford knew that they had their work cut out especially having to play up the slope and when Saffron scored their second try things looked ominous for the away team.

The match was beginning to run away from them as Saffron’s confidence showed in the way they took the game to Rochford but this outfit are made of stern stuff and they rolled up their sleeves and got on with the job.

Firstly good pressure from the visitors gave them a chance for goal which Ashton kicked over and then an inventive attack was finshed off by the excellent Tom Corbet who powered his way past the Saffron defence for a fine individual try to regain the lead.

Into the final quarter Rochford were in front at 18 -16 but the home team put over another penalty to retake the lead.

Rochford’s discipline showed through as they did not panic but kept applying good pressure and tackled and kicked intelligently for territory to open up the Saffron defence.

Their patience paid off as the home side gave away first one penalty and then another, both of which the steady boot of Tom Ashton punished to put his team ahead 24 -19.

In the gloom as the fog came down more Rochford played out the final minutes for a most satisfying away win .

Many excellent individual performance from the likes of Dan Bracknell ,who had an immense game at scrum half ,Tom Corbet George Chipper, Matt Stewart and Dan Needham together with Ashton’s reliable boot,but this was a terrific team performance of character and grit and must put them in good spirits for the run up to Christmas.

Next week a hard draw against London Cornish at home will be followed by league matches against Streetonians,Harlow and Canvey to finish off the first half of the season.