Epping Upper Clapton vs. Rochford Under 9s, 29 November 2009

A similar game to the first one in many ways, with the effective Upper Clapton mauling machine continually causing problems. However, the game was much more even, with Rochford having a lot more chances of our own, with some excellent running. Corey Lazell, Conner Jones, Christopher Martin and Jake Mead all made some fine runs, only to be stopped by some good Upper Clapton tackling, before Jake finally broke through with a surging run down the left, through a number of tackles, to touch down.

The game stayed fairly even til near the end, with further tries for Rochford from Chris Hastings (two), and Jack Chandler from a great run down the right touchline, but Upper Clapton's pressure was starting to pay off, with the inevitable push over tries seeing them edge ahead to again win by three clear tries,

Lessons from these games - get those tackles in low and around the legs to bring our opponents to the ground, and also to make the ball available to our team when we get held up in the tackle, rather than trying to plough through bodies. So a few things to practise in training this week.