Match Report by Graham Pratt

The game was not of the highest standard as there were too many errors from both sides but Rochford made less and punished Braintree for theirs.Having said that Rochford’s defence was awesome at times and their attack is beginning to have an edge to it.
The lineouts were up to scratch, although the set scrummage let them down but it was in the loose where the visitors had the upper hand. They fought tirelessly, none more so than Ross Murphy who had an excellent afternoon, to turn ball over and be first to the breakdown.
Most of the first half was even although gradually Rochford started to look more dominant forcing Braintree into handling errors with their aggressive defensive tackling and turn over ball.
Towards the end of the half the stale mate was broken when Tom Ashton who was playing at full back opened the scoring finishing off a great sequence of play with forwards and backs involved to dive through in the corner for a try.
Unfortunately just before half time the home side launched an offensive which was kept out by good Rochford defence but the resultant twenty two metre drop out was miss kicked. The ball landed straight into the grateful arms of the Braintree second row who ran in for a try which was a bitter blow just on the break.
With honours even again the second half continued in the same vein as the first with both sides trying to break through and errors letting them down but Braintree were making more of them especially when they were in promising positions and the Rochford defence held out and counter attacked.
It was from such play that the visitor’s next score came as they broke away after another Braintree attack faltered and sped up the field to the home side’s line.
Some good forward play saw number eight George Chipper break away to roar over the try line.Ashton converted to increase Rochford’s lead to 12 – 5 which remained the same until the end in spite of a number of nerve racking chances that went begging from both teams.
A well deserved win with some very good personal performances but it was a team effort again full of character and fighting spirit which is a firm base to build on and will only get better with each game.
Report by Graham Pratt.

JUST FOR INTEREST - Here's Braintree's Version !

Visitors resolute defence
Report by Barrie Winwood
BRAINTREE's promising start to the season evaporated as they lost to Rochford in a dour encounter at Robbs Wood on Saturday.

The black and ambers had given their fans cause for optimism with their convincing victory at Brentwood on the opening day of the season. But despite putting in the graft and investing their usual level of commitment they failed to create the chances needed to unlock the visitors' resolute defence.
The first half started as a deadlocked affair with both sides struggling to enter each other's 22s and play compacted either side of the half-way line.

It finally sparked into life on 36 minutes when following a sustained period of pressure Rochford scored the opening try. The visitors kicked a penalty into touch and won the resultant line-out before the ball was worked right to full-back Tom Ashton who crept over the line in the corner. It looked as if Rochford would be taking a 5-0 lead into half-time but Tree hit back in stoppage time with a try of their own to level matters. After being forced to touch down behind their own line as the hosts applied pressure the south Essex side's 22 drop-out went straight to Tree second row Mark Loftus.
He gathered the ball before powering 20 metres to score in the corner with Charles Monk narrowly missing the conversion which would have edged his side in front.
The home fans were looking for an improvement after the break but all they got was a Rochford try two minutes after the re-start. Pressurising Tree straight from the kick the visitors fed the ball to full-back Ashton who joined the line before flipping a pass to number eight George Chipper. Chipper strong-armed his way over the line to the left of the posts, allowing Ashton to kick the conversion and put his side 12-5 in front. Tree huffed and puffed for the rest of the half but their approach play always seemed too hurried and they didn't carve out a single clear cut chance. When they did threaten they found Rochford's defence in formidable mood and the game petered out frustratingly for the home fans.
BRUFC chairman of selectors Jeff Lewis said: "It was a poor performance by us. We stuck to the task and worked hard but we didn't create anything like sufficient chances.
"The game turned largely on Rochford's resolute defence. We had no answer and we couldn't conjure up sufficient flair to break them down. "They were more powerful in the breakdown at the tackle. We had to put more people into ruck situations to retain our ball or challenge theirs.