High scoring game at Holy Cross

On an unseasonably warm November day, we arrived at Basildon for a friendly arranged at short notice with a squad of 20 boys, which included our new recruit Kyleand we agreed to give the boys a choice as to the positions they would like to play. Once the boys were changed we made the short walk to the Holy Cross Recreation Ground, by crossing Cranes Farm Road and despite all the recent rain, found the pitch to be in excellent condition.

Due to the number of boys available the coaches agreed to play three periods of 25 minutes to give all the boys some good game time.

Rochford kicked off and Basildon opted to play downhill with the wind; they were a well drilled physical side, who were tenacious in the tackle and thwarted Rochford’s advances. After an early injury to Harrison and replacement by Luke P, Basildon broke through the Rochford line and took the lead. Rochford kept probing but were soon forced to make another change after Oakley was hit in the face by a Basildon kick and was somewhat dazed. Basildon extended their lead further and were soon 4-0 up. Rochford kept moving the ball round but were still unable to break through and in trying to move the ball to the wings, Basildon intercepted the pass and scored a try to make the score 5-0.

To the credit of the boys Rochford’s heads didn’t go down and finally were able to get on the score sheet through a well worked try that was finished by Christian. The momentum now swung toward Rochford and after a great drive by Scott and then Luca, the ball was passed to Kieran who finished in front of the posts, so the first period ended with the score 5-2 in Basildon’s favour.

The second period then started and despite further change Rochford were able to keep the momentum going, particularly as they now had the slope and wind behind them. Rochford kept persisting and after another good run from Scott, the ball found its way to Luke P, who managed to cut the deficit to 3-5, and this was soon further reduced by a powerful run from Max.

At this point some of the Basildon players became a bit agitated and their main try scorer was swapped out by their coach, but Basildon were able to reinstate a two-try lead. However, Rochford responded strongly and after a good passage of play, a rare try from our Hooker Luke C ensued. This was soon followed by another try by Kieran in the corner to level the scores at 6-6. Rochford were soon ahead for the first time in the match courtesy of a long clearance from Kieran well followed up by Max, so that the end of the second period Rochford were leading 7-6.

Further changes were made by Rochford, with Sam taking over the captaincy from Luca and soon Rochford managed to increase the lead to 8-6 with a typically strong run from Luke P after being fed by Alex, however that was to be the last try from Rochford as the momentum now swung back to Basildon who first reduced the deficit and then surged into a 12-8 lead and despite valiant attempts from Rochford that was how the game finished. Rochford as always played with good grace and sportsmanship….well done lads.

Final Score: Basildon 60- Rochford 40

Tries:
Christian, Kieran (2), Luke P (2), Luke C, Max (2)