Rochford U12s vs Burnham, 30th October 2011

Unfortunately, Burnham was unable to field a full squad with only 11 players available, and amongst these players was also a selection of under 11’s. Therefore, it made sense to play just one game but with Rochford making their proposed changes in the second half.

Consequently, the Rochford under 11’s kindly supplied two of their own players to supplement the Burnham team.

The first half started with Ben P, Sam, Sarah-Jane, Liam, Regan and Luke (Forwards), Ben J at Scrum Half, Matt N at Fly Half, Lewis at Inside centre, Ryan at Outside centre, Devan on the left wing, Bradley on the right wing, and Max at Full back.

The game starts with Rochford almost immediately winning a scrum close to the Burnham try line; Ben gets the ball out quickly to Matt N, and then passes for Ryan to go over for the first try. Luke steps up and gets the conversion.

It’s clear from the opening minutes that Burnham is at a disadvantage, and will struggle against a stronger and in some cases older Rochford side.

However, Burnham to their credit begin to put some pressure on Rochford at the restart, with attacking runs and spirited rucking, but are unable to break the Rochford defensive line.

Rochford, during the next attacking phase sees Regan go over the try line, but on this occasion Burnham are able to hold the ball up.
Inevitably, Rochford began to capitalise on their dominance, winning a scrum deep in Burnham territory. The ball is passed out quickly by Ben J, then along the backs with Lewis sprinting into the corner to score the second try. Luke then takes a successful conversion to make the score 14-0.

After the restart Regan makes a great interception but just gets pushed into touch short of the try line. From the subsequent line out Rochford really begin to pile the pressure on Burnham with good rucking from Sarah J leading to a turnover. Matt N is then tackled but passes the ball up from ground level to Ryan who sprints over for the third try. Luke just goes wide with the conversion.

The restart sees several fast passing moves leading to good runs on both the left wing (Devan) and right wing (Bradley) but Burnham’s defence holds out.

Despite the sustained Rochford pressure Burnham are still playing with commitment and make several decent runs, but Rochford continue to easily break through the Burnham defensive line and Ryan goes over again to take the score to 24-0 at halftime.

Rochford make some changes for the second half with Matt P joining the forwards, Johnny in at number 8, Jacob scrum half, Anthony on the left wing, Harry on the right wing, Luke moving to Full back, Max moving to outside centre, and Ryan switching to Inside centre.

At the restart Rochford nearly score an early try but the ball is knocked on close to the Burnham try line. Shortly after, the pressure continues to mount on Burnham as Matt N passes to Ryan, and then out to Max who passes to Harry going over for his first Rochford try. Luke gets the conversion bringing the score to 31-0.

Shortly after the restart Regan scores after some good interlinking play with the subsequent conversion going wide of the left hand post.
Rochford begin to step up a gear with some good tackling from Matt P, rucking from Ben P, Johnny and the other forwards. Jacob is getting the ball out quickly from the dominant Rochford scrum, and both Sam and Anthony having several good runs toward the try line thwarted by the Burnham defence.

Rochford then turnover over the ball and Ryan sprints over for another try, with the conversion going left of the post. The score is now 41-0.
After the restart Ryan quickly goes over again in similar fashion to the last try, and the conversion goes left of the posts.

Burnham goes on the attack after the restart, but some good tackles from Matt N, and Max impede their progress down the left wing. Soon after Liam makes a break for the line and after a long sprint gets the ball down for another Rochford try. The conversion goes wide taking the score to 51-0.

In the final moments and after more Rochford possession, Ryan breaks through the Burnham defence to score Rochford’s last try of the day. Luke steps up and gets the conversion leaving the final score at 58-0.

Well done Rochford