ROCHFORD SURVIVE THE DROP

This was always going to be a tense and nail biting affair and so it turned out to be.

With both sides fighting for league survival it was Brentwood that took all the honours on the day and control of Rochford’s fate was taken out of their hands and put into others.

Rochford’s cause was not helped by losing substitute prop Kenton Avis with a suspected Achilles heel injury during the warm up.

It was left to Bury St.Edmunds to ensure that Rochford stay up with an emphatic win over North Walsham and in the process denying Walsham any bonus points.

It was obvious from the start of this contest that Brentwood meant business applying early pressure playing down the slope and winning good loose and lineout ball.

Both sides were very aware of the occasion and played accordingly making mistakes and the game became a little fractious with a few hand bag incidents and a number of stoppages.

First blood went to the home side with a try after some sustained forward pressure which was duly converted by their full back.

Rochford gradually worked their way back into the game and launched a number of attacks and were unlucky not to break away to score but good Brentwood defence and bad luck kept the score the same until late in the half when the home side went further ahead with a well kicked penalty .

The boys in black started to play some of their best rugby late in the first half as forwards and backs combined to put together some typical Rochford play which saw hooker Tom Corbet finish off an exciting move to dive over for a deserved try.

Brentwood had the last say of the half when the visitors gave away another penalty which their accurate full back slotted over.

Still at 5 – 13 at the turn around things looked promising for Rochford with the breeze and slope in their favour.

As so often happens when these two sides play at Brentwood nothing can be taken for granted as the home side know so well how to take advantage of their home ground and again it proved to be.

Brentwood used their size and strength up front and the natural aggression they seem to have to control the ball supply.

As much as they tried Rochford could not get or keep possession long enough to cause any damage and the home outfit kept knocking up the points.

First they scored a second converted try and then a penalty to take the score to 5 – 23 before Rochford responded with a Kit Branch penalty.

Brentwood’s sharp shooting full back put over a further penalty kick to increase their lead and the game drifted into the last quarter with the match running away from the frustrated Richford side.

The visitors at last were able to get their hands on some ball and threw everything they could at their rivals.

Big No. eight James Needham found some room and scored a fine try for Branch to convert and Rochford went all out to try to score another try and obtain an important losing bonus point but time ran out for them and they could only wait to hear their fate.

There were some gutsy performances from the likes of Darren Spencer, Corbet, Michael Marks and David Coombe as well as some good running from Nick Brown, Matt Stewart, Dan Needham and Robert Prior as well as others but as a team effort it was not the way they would have wanted to finish the season.

They were second best to a Brentwood team that were tactically better and more aggressive at the breakdown and scrummage and who deserved their victory.

That said great praise must go to coaches Mark Sexton and Andy Lipscombe and all the squad who through their hard work and commitment especially in the second half of this challenging season were able to put together some exciting and excellent rugby.

Through this they started to win important games which kept them the vital one point in front of a revitalised North Walsham to the very last gasp in spite of immense pressure on them.

A massive well done lads and I already look forward to next season when I am sure we will go from strength to strength. You have at least made a happy man very old (or is that the other way round) and more than a little drained.