ROCHFORD WEATHER THE STORM TO GAIN VICTORY

( report by Graham Pratt )

Unfortunately the extreme weather conditions as storm “Dennis” arrived spoilt what could have been an exciting encounter between two good running sides. It turned out to be a stop / start dour struggle between two sets of forwards with the occasional backs movement. In the end Rochford’s stronger and more organised pack and well drilled defence won the day with a deserving away win, but dropping a try bonus point in the process.

The visitors played with the very strong wind behind them in the first half and were soon 7 points up, through centre Sonny Gay’s try and Chris Dudman’s conversion. Another try followed in quick succession after powerful forward driving by Rochford on the Wild Geese line when big back row Chris Shields grounded and Dudman added the extra two points. 14 points up and they applied big pressure on the lively Irish outfit who gave as good as they got in the tackle and tried to run the ball whenever they could.

In these conditions it was not always the best option as they made mistakes and together, with Rochford’s fierce defence their attacks broke down. Rochford pushed to get the third try but were also let down by errors of their own and also trying to play too much rugby in midfield instead of using the wind advantage to gain territory.

Irish fought back towards the latter part of the half to score a try out wide and turned round at the break 14 – 5 in arrears. The weather deteriorated in the second half as the gale became even stronger and it began to rain. With the wind behind them London Irish should have had the advantage but the boys in black tightened up their game and concentrated their efforts better.

A number of driving mauls on the home side’s try line resulted in Chris Shields, once again, forcing his way over and Centre Dudman converting to increase the lead to 21 – 5 and the team were now looking for that all important fourth try. Rochford had the better set scrummage for most of the game and, although the line-outs were a lottery for the most part, Jamie Douglas, Sam Fombo and Harry Hudson controlled the ball well in difficult circumstances. Craig Strachan was, again, outstanding in the loose where he drove and tackled like a demon.

Scrum half Ricki Gould worked tirelessly all afternoon recycling the ball for his forwards to punch holes into the home team’s defence and, on occasions, bringing his backs into action. However, the game just drifted along for the majority of the second half with a fair share of stoppages for minor infringements and as much as they tried Rochford just could not break away to score. Wild Geese are a good and organised side and their defence was working very hard to keep their opponents from scoring again. Their efforts were rewarded right at the end of this uninspiring match when they scored a converted try to make the score line look more respectable and stopped Rochford from getting that bonus point as well.
Rochford’s performance, particularly in the second half was good enough to overcome tough opposition in dire conditions but they might reflect that the extra point was there for the taking. With Guernsey winning another 5 pointer, the Essex lads are now in second place in the table and will now have to work hard to confront the threat.
Next week a home game against struggling Guildford, which could be the ideal opportunity to really go for putting some more points on the board but nothing can be taken for granted in this league.

Team:- Brunger, Ferrier A., Bevans-Royston, Douglas, Fombo, Shields, Hudson, Duaibe, Gould, Greenhall, Ferrier, W., Gay, Dudman, Brambley, Billings

Subs:- Bailey, Strachan, Meads