Rochford continued their impressive run of victories with an emphatic win over old rivals Basildon at Magnolia Road scoring six tries in the process and taking their winning run to six on the trot.

Once again it was the combination of a powerful pack and adventurous running in the backs which won the game against a spirited but limited Basildon especially in the second half.

The home outfit applied plenty of forward pressure in the first few minutes but were kept at bay by stout Basildon defence and it was not until 15th minute when impressive second row Scott Wheeler crashed over for his first try for the club to take his side into the lead.

Although most of the first half was fairly even between the two sides Rochford’s scrum and lineout were working well and created good ball for scrum half Ricki Gould and his back division.

It was Gould who scored the next try just before the break when he dived over after a strong forward drive near the Basildon line. Matt Stewart added the two points and Rochford turned round 12-0 ahead.

The second half was, for the most part, was a matter of the home team building momentum and their opponents having to defend to keep them at bay, but it was not long before lively wing Matt White collected a good pass from Stewart after some fast back play and raced over to score.

Next up was classy full back Dan Needham, making his first team debut this season, who glided through to score under the posts and for Matt Stewart to convert.

That took the score line to 24 -0 and secured a try bonus point which allowed Rochford a good buffer at a crucial period of the game.

The home team’s fitness and togetherness started to show now. Coach Michael Guess brought on young Jon Fitzpatrick into stand off and moved Stewart to centre.

This immediately paid dividends as quick ball was moved out to Stewart who split the defence and darted through to score and convert his own try.

Basildon came back to attack the boys in black and were rewarded with a penalty shot which they slotted over to trail 31-3 but it was their only consolation on a miserable afternoon for this proud club.

A final try by wing Matt White and the subsequent conversion by Stewart was the final nail in the coffin for the Newtowners.

Excellent individual performances from many Rochford players but it was yet another fine team effort for this evolving outfit who grow in confidence each week.

It is a mark of where they are now in their attitude that although it was a pleasing win over local rivals, they knew that they could and perhaps should have scored more points and on occasion they know they let themselves down with some unnecessary indiscipline.

These are things that can be addressed on the training evenings but in the meantime we can all share in the pleasure winning brings and continue to push our way up the table.

There are some hard games coming up but the squad is in fine fettle and they look forward to the challenges ahead.