ROCHFORD CONTINUE THEIR FINE START TO SEASON

This was always going to be an awkward game as Rochford had never played the Watford outfit before but were expected to win well against a side in the bottom layer of this league and they being joint leaders in the table.

On top of that the wet murky conditions can be a great leveller and in some ways they were. To be honest it was a niggly awful match with far too many stoppages for injuries to the opposition which effected the rhythm of the game.

After a fairly even start it was obvious that Fullerians were going to use their big pack in an attempt to batter Rochford into submission. To the visitors this was bread and butter as they soaked up the onslaught with some strong aggressive tackling.

This started a succession of stoppages for minor injuries as the opposition succumbed to Rochford’s robust defence.

With ball in hand Hundred showed why they are where they are and aggressive wing Radzevious (Bert) stormed over in the corner for an excellent try. Cameron Greenhall converted from the touchline and it was not long before another try came.

Next up was impressive second row Jamie Douglas who crashed over and, again, Greenhall added the extra two points. At 14-0 ahead Rochford felt a little more comfortable but still had to work at keeping the home side at bay.

It gradually became clear that Rochford were beginning to dominate the set scrums and were being successful in the line out where Sam Fombo and Douglas won plenty of good ball.

The weather made the ball slippery and handling errors disrupted further scoring until the willowy frame of Cameron Greenhall using his considerable talent to glide through for a further unconverted try.

The boys in black were now getting into their stride with forceful drives through their forwards where Craig Strachan, Chris Shields, Adam Ferrier and others gave the Watford based outfit plenty to think about.

More stoppages as one after another Fullerian players went down and then some bad-tempered play resulted in one of the home side being showed a red card for some rather over robust use of an elbow.

Fullerians were shortly after given a yellow card as well as they went down to thirteen men. Rochford took full advantage of this situation and used their powerful forwards to bombard the home team’s line.

The referee eventually awarded the visitors a penalty try and the first session finished with Rochford ahead 26-0 and bonus point in the bag.

It was probably expected that the Essex boys would romp away with the second half which they did to some extent they still had to work hard in difficult conditions. Although scoring four more tries, the weather deteriorated, and many more injury stoppages slowed the game down.

Experienced prop Michael Guess had to come off with a rib injury and Tom Ashton with a dead leg but not before he scored a fine try. Big Sam Fombo had to leave the field also which disrupted play even more.

Fombo actually went over for a try at the start of the second session which the ever consistent Greenhall converted. Full back Mark Billings who had been a thorn in Fullerians side all afternoon finally sped over for a try. All credit to Mark as he been unwell before the game but carried on in spite of that.

Stand Off Greenhall added the two points and he finished off a fine personal performance with a second try to bring proceedings to a close.

It must be said that the home team rallied well in the second half and in spite of being a man down they went up a couple of gears and tried very hard to break the Rochford line. They nearly succeeded a few times but, again, aggressive defence kept them out and more players going down did not help their cause.

A frustrating afternoon and certainly not at their best Rochford can reflect that it was a job well done and can look forward to a home encounter against old Norfolk rivals Diss next Saturday.