Match Report by Graham Pratt

On an afternoon more suited to water sports Rochford treated the hardy supporters to a six try bonanza overcoming atrocious conditions showing off all the skills and character we know they possess. It did not appear that way to start with as lowly Norwich monopolised possession and territory through their big forwards and were rewarded with a well struck penalty to take an early lead.

That was a good as it got for them as the home side, determined to make amends for last week, went up gears to put together some attractive ball play. Matt Stewart, playing at full on the day, opened the Rochford scoring with the first of his two tries of the afternoon. Stewart’s performance on the day and all season was the reward of hard work on the training ground and increased confidence which is beginning to turn him into a very good all round player.

Next up to score was centre Tom Ashton who sped over for a good try which he converted himself. His total points contribution for the match was twenty but his intelligent line kicking and general open field play was a big factor in Rochford’s free running and dominance in spite of the conditions. Although Rochford struggled in the set scrums their lineout work, where Ryan Stephenson was outstanding, and their loose play was up to their usual standard.

All the forwards worked hard all afternoon showing a high degree of determination, none more so than Stephenson, Brain McMahon, George Chipper and Andy Baker. What was also very pleasing was the return of flanker Alan Barker who has lost none of his aggression and power. In the backs Dan Needham continues to impress and Darren Spencer is again becoming a power in the centre, wings Jon Baker and ex-Norwich man Greg Stubbs showed off their skills.

It was Barker who crashed through for the next try and Ashton converted to give the home side a comfortable 19 – 3 lead at half time. Acting captain Tom Ashton kicked Rochford further ahead with a penalty before full back Stewart went over for another excellent try. To their credit Norwich kept battling away and frustrated their opponents on a number of occasions and were unlucky not to reduce the arrears but good Rochford defence kept them at bay.

More power play allowed Ashton to put over another penalty and substitute scrum half Adam Keating raced along the touchline to dive over for a well taken effort. It was only fitting that Tom Ashton should finish off the scoring when he showed off some delightful individual skills to open up the Norwich defence to break through the middle and outpace them to the line. There were additional chances for Rochford to go further ahead but the poor conditions only seemed to get worse and the game fizzled out with both teams only too pleased to hear the final whistle A credit to the boys who can feel pleased with themselves and a job well done.

Team :- Coombe (Berry), McMahon, Chivers, Stephenson, Davies, Barker, Baker A, Chipper, Webb S (Keating) Needham, Baker J, Spencer, Ashton, Stubbs, Stewart, Stemp.

For Interest - Here's Norwich's Match report !

Norwich made a lively start against a side lying in third place in the league. From the kick-off the visitors put their opponents under pressure with some telling kicks from fly-half Jay O’Brien into the corners and were unlucky not to score from a Chris Sawford break from the base of a five metre scrummage. However they were rewarded with a penalty from O’Brien after five minutes to take an early lead.
This seemed to stir the hosts who came back strongly at Norwich. In the appalling conditions consisting of driving rain both sides had difficulty in retaining possession the ball being like a bar of soap. However having had the better of the early exchanges Norwich slipped back into all too familiar ways managing to concede three tries in five minutes which really in the conditions finished any chances of getting back into the game. Rochford’s full-back Matt Stewart who was an impressive runner all afternoon sliced through the flimsy Norwich defence to score a try which went unconverted. Moments later centre Tom Ashton did the same and he converted his own try.Stewart repeated his earlier feat a try Ashton converted to leave Norwich 19 points to 3 adrift after just 20 minutes. It was credit to their spirit that there was no further score before half-time with the forwards battling really hard to hold their own.
Norwich did not help their cause when immediately after half-time they conceded a penalty under the posts which Ashton had no trouble in converting.Again defensive lapses let the visitors down. Stewart must have thought it was his birthday. After 10 minutes he was allowed to canter through a gap to score his third try which Ashton could not convert.
For the 20 minutes the Norwich forwards gave as good as they got but they were not helped by some witless decision making which often meant that the simple and obvious option was ignored. This meant that the initiative got handed back to the opposition.Ashton added another penalty and in the last five minutes he scored 2 more tries both of which he could not convert to leave Rochford with a comfortable victory and a scoreline which probably slightly flattered them.