LACK OF FINISHING LETS ROCHFORD DOWN AGAIN

It was, once again, the old story of doing all the hard and good work but unable to find that little composure to score the points.

Rochford started at a pace going downhill and applied plenty of early pressure but could not secure points even with two kickable penalties on offer.

This was a lively and spirited Rochford side that tackled like demons and forced Brentwood into a number of errors although the home team began to force their way up the pitch and only good defence and mistakes by Brentwood kept them out.

Midway through the half Rochford launched a good attack and this time they were rewarded when full back Marcus Spremulli ran through under the posts for Gavin Tusini to convert the try.

This gave the visitors a big boost and they continued to play some fast flowing rugby but were unable to put more points on the board.

Brentwood soaked it all up and late in the half went over for a try of their own, which was not converted.

Turning round 7 – 5 up Rochford knew that they needed to increase the tempo more to counteract the home side’s advantage of playing down the slope. This they did for the early part of the second half and it started to look promising for them.

Unfortunately fate had other ideas and Brentwood pressure resulted in a penalty chance to go ahead which they took.The home side’s pack was gradually taking control of the set pieces and Rochford’sline out was not performing well which meant that play was concentrated in the Rochford half of the pitch for long periods,

Brentwood went up a gear and another try followed to put them further ahead at 7 – 13.The boys in black responded strongly and forced their hosts into having to defend desperately and created more scoring chances only to see handling errors or wrong options with the line begging letting them down.

Rochford kept the pressure on right through to the final minutes but mid table Brentwood, like most teams in this division, take their chances when they arrive and late try was the final nail in Rochford’s coffin.

A great shame for the team as they had played with passion and fire but seem to lack that composure that comes with the confidence of winning games.