Rochford vs. Westcliff Lions, Westcliff Festival 11 April 2010

We beat this renamed Westcliff “B” side 30 nil last time so expectations were high. Again, match reporter felt Rochford started poorly and certainly not up to the previous good performances seen against SWF and Braintree. Still, we were by far the better side and were soon a try ahead courtesy of Big Lew. Jack added to the score with try number two, but Rochford missed several other opportunities through poor handling and continuous fumbling of the ball. Perhaps it wasn’t just the parents who were feeling the cold. Still, better play by Rochford towards the end of the half saw Big Lew get his second, and Rochford’s third, try.

Second half and some selective refereeing saw Oli B have the ball deliberately knocked from his hands with no penalty awarded. Also a near religious dedication by the ref in penalising our boys for not being 10 yards back on penalty kicks against them saw Westcliff creep towards our try line. However, as was rapidly becoming the usual routine for Rochford in this tournament, the second half meant they were now fully awake and up to speed. After a strong push Karl drove over for try number four. Adam B then fended off three players to run though try number five but alas this was disallowed as ref thought he had handed off one of the Westcliff boys.

This was definitely not the case but from the vantage point the ref had the decision was understandable – but still a hard pill to swallow from a forward’s point of view. However, nothing could help Westcliff and the game ended in a convincing win for Rochford, 20-0.