ROCHFORD MAKE HARD WORK OF THIS GOOD AWAY WIN

It has to be said that Rochford were the better team by far and should have won by a much bigger margin as they created plenty of chances but let themselves down with some poor finishing.

Having said that they acquired a big win with a bonus point so mission accomplished but tenacious Braintree made them fight all the way and almost caught the visitors at the death.

The game was a loose affair and , mainly without too much structure to it with Rochford applying most of the attacking moves and Braintree defending hard and then taking the chances as they came up.

Rochford attacked from the start but there was a certain lethargy about their play in the first quarter and Braintree took full advantage to break away to open the scoring with an opportunist try, duly converted.

Michael Stemp started the Rochford account with a well taken try quickly followed by prop Scott Chivers driving over for another which was converted by Tom Ashton.

A lapse in defence allowed Braintree in for a further try to level the score.

A third Rochford try by stand-off Dan Needham, converted by Ashton finished the first half scoring and the visitors turned round 19 – 12

Rochford were dominant in the set scrum, driving Braintree off the ball on a number of occasions which gave no.8 Scott Horsburgh plenty of scope to use his considerable strength and power with some penetrating runs. The line out also worked well with Sam Tape, Horsburgh, Murphy and Whight winning good ball.

With the wind behind them it should have been plain sailing for the Magnolia Road outfit in the second half but a penalty kick for the home side narrowed the deficit to 19-15.

Rochford responded with their fourth and bonus point try by back from injury hooker Tom Corbet powering over for Ashton to convert.

Another penalty from Braintree, taking advantage of poor Rochford play, kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Not to be outdone Tom Ashton kicked a penalty of his own before stubborn Braintree forced play along and were rewarded with another try.

At 29 -23 it was too close for comfort but a further Ashton penalty helped matters.

As the game reach it’s final stages a lovely piece of play involving stand in full back Sam Edwards, linking up with wing Tom Bavington allowed the wing to show off his great pace and out run the defence to score a great try and at 37-23 it looked all over.

Watching Rochford should come with a warning notice for the nervous or faint of heart as Braintree, once again, rallied to force the visitors back and created a try from nothing which was converted to bring the score line to 37-30. Only one score in it and they had two unlikely bonus points to boot.

The final act was typical of Rochford’s performance as they responded strongly splitting the tied Braintree defence apart and with the line at their mercy the final pass was dropped. The referee blew the final whistle and I suppose both sides came out with what they would consider a satisfactory conclusion to an entertaining afternoon.