Rochford U7s vs. Southend, 14 February 2010

With all the build up you could have expected from this local derby, the match lived up to it. Rochford made an attacking start straight from the off. The passing was accurate and tagging precise. From good team play from inside the Rochford half the ball was played to Dalton who played to Milo who laid off the ball with a tidy pass to Zak, and with a fast sprint placed the ball for a try in the left hand corner. Southend looked stunned. Southend then responded with a series of quick passes through the middle to level the score at 1-1.

The game restarted with some good forward play by Rochford, Edward and Ethan made good defensive
tackles, but pressure from Southend mounted and an attack down the flank side which produced another try, making a 1-2 scoreline. Toby broke from the centre and played the ball to Zak, some fine footwork from Dalton and a fine finish levelled the score to 2-2.

Coach Fin gave the boys some inspired team talk, Southend were caught in the restart by Finlay who checks once over his shoulder and strides towards the line only to be caught and laid off to Dalton for a second try extending the lead to 3-2. Going into the lead at half time Rochford were well up for it, some of the boys didn’t even need a drink, looking across the pitch some of the Southend support had raised a massive ‘Marquee’ they needed more than this to raise their players.

So, play restarted for the second half, Rochford started to string some passing together with good communication and positioning. Though never managing to challenge the Southend try line like in the first half, but as Rochford seemed like they were making some ground, Southend pushed forward with an equaliser making the scoreline 3-3. With heads up, Edward restarted the play with a good pass to Finlay in the centre who then laid off the ball with a short pass to Toby with produced a fast sprint and side step to place the ball over the Southend try line. 4-3. Time was moving on with only 3 mins to go, Southend pushed hard with some good play moving forward, the ball was laid off from a quick pass and they levelled the the score to 4-4. With a quick re-group and some words of encouragement from coach Fin, Rochford went for it...the last minute of the game produced some fine play from all of the team. Just when Southend were going for the draw Zak made a quick move into the Southend half and laid off the ball to Milo who side stepped and sprinted for a excellent try in the last play before the final whistle.

Victory for Rochford! 5-4