Rochford Now Clear at the Top !

As expected the Islanders gave Rochford a torrid time up front in the set scrums controlled a large portion of this tense encounter but were unable to convert this into enough points. It was the visitors that showed the extra class with three very good quality tries to break Mersea’s resistance.
Winning the toss and opting to play into the strong coastal gale Rochford looked the more composed side in the first half with a bigger Mersea pack not able to fully take advantage of conditions as they were forced into errors by a determined Rochford. The pressure did pay off for Mersea as they opened the scoring with a penalty kick but good defensive work by Rochford kept the Islanders from going further in front.
In spite of the disadvantage of going backwards in the scrummage where No.8 George Chipper was outstanding all afternoon in converting bad ball into good the mobile Rochford forwards worked tirelessly in turning over the opposition in the loose and attacking from the lineouts. Midway through the half at last the visitors managed to collect the ball deep in their own half and move it quickly wide. Impressive wing Jon Baker collected and raced up the touchline outpacing the opposition and when finally tacked was able to offload to the supporting Andy Baker.
The flanker saw second row Ryan Stephenson inside him and passed for Stephenson to score under the posts. Tom Ashton converted to put Rochford ahead 7 -3 and there was no more scoring up to half time. With the wind in their favour the visitors should have had the game sewn up but things rarely turn out as planned as Mersea moved up a gear and became more aggressive up front and Rochford failed to use the conditions to advantage.
Mersea clawed back 3 points with a penalty and after some sustained pressure on the Rochford line pushed over from a scrum to score a try. Back in front again the home side fought hard to put their opponents away but at crucial time mistakes were made and Rochford were able to regroup. Gradually the skill and pace of Rochford started to show through and from some well won ball centre Ashton made a decisive break to split the defence to go score and convert his try.
At 14- 11 ahead the game nestled on a knife edge as Mersea threw everything into it to get back the advantage but in the end it was that little something extra that was that can determine the outcome of close matches and up stepped big flanker Alan Barker. Picking up the ball from a central position with his own half he stormed off for the line breaking through various tackles along the way. Just when he looked to be closed down an extra burst of power took him past the defenders to crash over the line and in doing put paid to any Mersea ambitions of winning. The minutes ticked away and the final whistle blew and coach Dean Cutting congratulated his team on an important away win to place them top of the heap.
Chelmsford next week at home will be another tough one but confidence is building up all the time and each game will be taken as they come.

Team : Ansell, Chivers, Berry (Dyer), Stephenson, Davies, Barker, Baker A. Chipper, Webb (Forbes) Needham D. Baker, Spencer, Ashton, Stubbs, Stewart, Stemp.

NB. Photos by Fraser Pratt (IPSWICH Feb 2008).
Contact Nic Brownlee if you would like copies or prints!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ir_fraser/tags/rochford

For Interest - Here's Mersea Is Match Report !

An outstanding 2nd half display by Mersea Island, coming from behind to lead 11-7 only to see Rochford score two late tries and deny Mersea another famous victory.
The London North East 3 match sponsored by Stanley Bragg, was played in front of a large crowd despite the showery weather and the Islanders knew this would be a stern test with Rochford lying top position. From the kick off, the south Essex side looked extremely well organised and disciplined in defence, as they absorbed the early Mersea pressure. The Islanders, unusually playing down the slope for the 1st period, made a mediocre start to the match, struggling to secure any quick ruck ball and lacked consistency in the approach. Using the breeze and slope, Mersea put some good probing kicks to keep the visitors pinned in their own 22. From a series of mauls and rucks, with Brendan Cook & Jay Hatcher driving forcefully at the opposition, their only reward was a simple penalty converted by Jon Williams for a 3-0 lead. Despite the home team’s high territorial advantage, it was the Rochford side who were far quicker about the park and kept forcing Mersea into making mistakes. Entering the final stages of the 1st half, a seemingly good kick into the visitors half was run out well by their speedy winger, who beat a few covering Mersea defenders before passing inside to his support to score next to the posts. Rochford skipper Tom Ashton added the extra for a 3-7 half-time score.
What a difference a slice of orange and a stern half-time talk can do to a team. Mersea came out for the 2nd period guns blazing, taking the game by the scruff of the neck and totally outplaying their opponents by for nearly the whole of the half. The Mersea pack were suddenly getting about the field in numbers, breaking the gain line and allowing the three-quarters to play with quick ruck ball. Fly-half Paul Le Marquand had a superb 2nd half, running onto the ball with pace, driving hard at his opposite number and playing with good aggression. The sudden turnaround in the Islanders play forced Rochford into making mistakes, and Mersea were able to make good ground with long penalty kicks into their half. Rochford were lucky not to have a player sin-binned for constant slowly down of the ball but Mersea’s reward was another penalty for Williams to bring the score to 6-7. With Mersea pushing hard, prop Dave Murrell entered the game from the bench along with Andy Windridge. The Island pack was fired up, with Man of the Match Rob Pickard winning excellent line-out ball and and managed to force Rochford over their own line. From the resulting scrum, Mersea pushed the visitors over the line and No.8 Brendan Cook touched down to the delight of the team. Entering the final quarter of the game, the Islanders were stretching their opponents and looking for the killer score to seal the win. Some good handling by Le Marquand and Fields, gave some space for Walters to attack only for his pass to winger Munson to go to ground. Rochford were able to clear their lines and from their first attack in the 2nd half, they stretched a tiring Mersea defence and Ashton run a great angle to score out wide. This was devastating for the Mersea players who had worked so hard in the 2nd half to regain the lead only for it to evaporate with just minutes remaining. Mersea tried to run a missed penalty from deep only for the kick to fall into Rochford hands and the flanker broke through some weak midfield tackles to score and seal Rochford’s victory.
Mersea Island were pretty dejected at the final whistle, narrowly slipping to their 4th league defeat of the season, but yet again the side were not outplayed and lost by the narrowest of margins to a good side. Skipper Jon Williams felt his side had performed admirably for the 2nd period, and showed great spirit to play up the hill and come from behind. Despite being extremely frustrated at seeing a victory snatched from within the team’s grasp, the players must learn from the defeat and again take huge heart that they managed to push their Rochford opponents all the way, and made them work hard for their narrow victory at the Youth Camp.