Burnham vs. Rochford U12s, 18th October 2009

Rochford started well, and were soon passing the ball confidently along the line to create opportunities down the right hand side. Further Rochford pressure followed, and Louis darted through the crowd to get the opening try. (Lewis Converted).
Burnham tried to respond, but were being kept in their own half, with strong tackles seen from Ross and Lewis. With good teamwork, and good ball handling, Rochford scored again, with Louis sprinting through near the corner. (Jack converted).
Oliver made a brave attempt to catch and run over a try from a high Lewis kick, but a stumble near the line prevented this, but soon after Rochford grabbed a third try, after a fine solo effort by Jack enabled him to run past the whole Burnham team. (Lewis converted).

With a 21- 0 lead at half time, Rochford made several player changes, and continued to pressurise Burnham by chasing the ball the whole time. Several players were seen to make a number of good tackles, which seemed to rattle Burnham somewhat.
Max came close to scoring near the corner, and Jack also got close, and from an early ball out of a scrum Oliver literally charged through the Burnham defence to score Rochford’s fourth try. (Louis converted).

There was some spirited close quarter play, and Adam B, Michael, and Karl showed great battling qualities in the centre of the field. With strong tackling from Owen and Adam H , and fine runs from Lewis and Owen (both of whom got back up with the ball after being tackled!) Burnham began to struggle with injuries. (Well done Connor, for putting on a Burnham shirt and helping them out as they ran out of players).

The 28 -0 victory was a good start to the season for Rochford, not just because of the favorable score line, but more importantly because of a good all around performance. We did well at contesting the ball early, making tackles, playing along the line, getting the ball out of the scrum quickly, catching the ball, and playing very well as a team, with all players making a positive contribution.