ROCHFORD WEATHER THE STORM

A rusty but determined Rochford had to battle against the elements and a committed Norwich and came through with flying colours.

Not having played a game for past two weeks and a long journey into deepest Norfolk to get over would have been bad enough but with gale force winds and for a time driving rain to contend with this was a great result.

The pitch was in perfect condition though and if wasn’t for the powerful wind it would have been a lovely afternoon especially when the sun did come out.

Norwich showed that they were not here to make up the numbers and played with some skill and commitment to keep Rochford on the defensive for the first quarter and their efforts were rewarded with a well struck penalty kick to give them the lead.

Gradually Rochford’s extra power up front and their lively loose play allowed them to set up a number of attacks and a series of forward phases saw Rochford take the ball from deep defence to a good attacking position.

From that a delightful break by stand off Tom Ashton saw him run through and score under the posts and convert his own try.

As the half progressed the visitors set scrum became more dominant but the lineouts were poor, not helped by the strong wind, for either side.

The home outfit continued to attack and only good defensive work by the boys in black kept them out.

The tide started to turn late in the half when flanker Tom Corbet finished off a good breakaway move to score and for Ashton to convert.

With the score line standing at 14 -3 and only less than a minute to go before the break Rochford failed to clear their lines and Norwich opened up play and ran in for a surprised try and then converted it to be only 14 – 10 behind at the break.

The weather took a a turn for the worse at the start of the second session with pouring rain and vicious gale force winds and it was a wonder that both sides were able to play at all but rugby men are made of stern stuff and they knuckled down to make light of their adversity.

Rochford however, had the clear advantage of the wind behind them and an increasingly more powerful pack applied the necessary pressure and centre Michael Stemp supplied the extra points with a fine try.

Ashton, once again, converted to take the score to 21 – 10 and with a little daylight now showing the Essex Boys struck again.This time it was substitute wing Tom Pickering, using his speed and strength, to force his way along the touchline to dive over for the all-important bonus try.

The icing on the cake for the visitors came towards the end of this eventful but stop, start match when centre Matt Stewart finished off a quick piece of back play to score his tenth try of the season and for the other ten try scorer Tom Ashton to add the two points.

In spite of not being totally on top of their game due to lack of match practice and the challenging weather this was an excellent effort which was needed especially with a tough Intermediate Cup quarter final against Old Priorians next week coming up.