15 Men, Went to Play at Brentwood

A school trip and a variety of illnesses and injuries robbed the Under 15s of 12 players for the league match with Brentwood. Just to add some extra difficulty, many of the boys were playing out of position.

The front row started with Daniel House at tight-head prop, Joe Mitchell at hooker and James Mowle at loose-head. Sean Honey and James Cowland started in the second row, Daniel Harvey at openside flanker with Austen King at blindside and Chris Martin at number 8. Corey Lazell began at scrum-half, Louis Croll at fly-half, Reiss Sellwood started at inside centre and Henry Willis at outside with Connor Jones and Alex Perkis on the wings. Tom Harris completed the side at full-back.

Rochford elected to receive the kick-off and play down the slope for the first half. Both sides began to compete well and use the width as much as possible. It was Brentwood who made the most of their chances, pushing Rochford into their own half and eventually a missed tackle let them through to open the scoring.

Despite the early set back Rochford continued to look for opportunities to score and probed the Brentwood defensive line looking for a gap. After ten minutes and a series of crunching tackles by Tom Harris he took one knock too many and was forced to sit out the rest of the match. With the side down to 14, the wingers began to work extra hard to cover the full back position as well as their own.

The loss of a full back and the dynamic style of the Brentwood attack began to stretch the Rochford defence. Brentwood scored again in the corner after a Rochford attack broke down to stretch their lead. Twenty two minutes in Alex Perkis took a knock to the head and was taken off reducing the side to 13. James Cowland, carrying an injury himself switched to the wing and Chris Martin moved to the second row. Brentwood were kind enough to offer players to make the match more even but this would have meant conceding the match, which the boys weren’t prepared to do. Rochford would play the next forty minutes with a 7 man pack.

Rochford still managed to create chances despite the numerical disadvantage but, unlike Brentwood, were not able to exploit them.

Half-time – Brentwood 44 Rochford 0

The second half was always going to be more of a challenge as Rochford were facing uphill, 2 men short and Brentwood had the option of bringing on fresh legs. Despite the player deficit and the slope Rochford played some expansive rugby and spent a considerable amount of time in the Brentwood half. However the unavoidable gaps in the Rochford defence were being exploited by Brentwood regularly.

A series of phases saw Rochford move deep into the Brentwood half. The forwards combining to make yards and then recycle the ball. Eventually Joe Mitchell took the ball and drove for the line but was stopped a yard and a half short. As he set the ball back Chris Martin picked up and dived over the line only for the try to be ruled out as the ball appeared to have been knocked on by a Rochford player. From the resulting scrum Brentwood put boot to ball and the clearing kick put Rochford back to half way.

Determined not to give up the boys attacked again and at a scrum mid-way into the Brentwood half the 7 man scrum drove the Brentwood pack back forcing their loose head prop to stand up in the scrum. Fatigue began to show but heads did not drop and Rochford continued to battle to the end.

Full time – Brentwood 67 Rochford 0

It would been easy for the boys to have taken the Brentwood players or called the match off once the score reached 50, but to a man they decided that they were prepared to fight to the end. It would have been easy for the Brentwood boys to show-boat but they continued to play the game in the right spirit.

At the final whistle the Brentwood coach took the time to congratulate the boys on their performance and to say how much he and his boys admired their resolve and determination. Rochford had clearly earned the respect of their opponents.

When all the boys play with that much heart and guts, choosing your standout player is incredibly difficult. However, for their leadership on the pitch, keeping heads up and the team working right to the end, Daniel House and Reiss Sellwood shared Man of the Match.

1, James Mowle; 2, Joe Mitchell; 3, Daniel House; 4, Sean Honey; 5, James Cowland; 6, Austen King; 7, Daniel Harvey; 8, Chris Martin; 9, Corey Lazell; 10, Louis Croll; 11, Connor Jones; 12, Reiss Sellwood; 13, Henry Willis; 14, Alex Perkins; 15, Tom Harris