Basildon vs. Rochford U7s & U8s, 17 January 2010

By now both teams were really in the swing of things and chomping at the bit. Rochford looking for the clean sweep, Basildon playing for pride. Basildon set off down the right wing at a blistering pace but fortunately for Rochford, ‘blistering’ is the pace that the Pocket Rocket walks at. This is why Ricardo managed to make this crucial tag.

Further good work from the Rochford defensive line led to Basildon dropping the ball and the visitors gaining possession. An equally good Basildon defence made it difficult to penetrate but perseverance from Blake and Jamie led to Jamie opening the scoring. Rochford returned to defensive formation quickly but a determined Basildon showed that they were not going to rollover, by applying pressure until they finally broke through and scored, 1-1.

Play was restarted with a pass back from the captain, Ben to Ricardo, he could see all the gaps ahead of him, and he managed to zigzag through all of them for a scorching individual effort. A good response from Basildon led to a strong run down the right wing and an well scored equalizer. The score was 2-2.

After the restart Ben launched into a ¾ pitch run but came up against a brick wall and was duly tagged. Ben passed back to Ricardo who set up Blake who was unlucky not to score. Basildon now had possession and tried to make it count with a mighty onslaught. Rochford managed to hold Basildon in their own half with some excellent tagging and second guessing until finally the defensive line broke down and Basildon found a way through to approach the touchline.

However perseverance and sheer determination allowed Rochford to regain possession and Zach set Jamie on his way to catch the Basildon defence by surprise and score at the end of a long run. Basildon responded with an equally impressive diagonal run through a Rochford line that had not quite regrouped in time leave the stage set for an exciting closing minute. It looked like it could go either way or would it be a draw? Up stepped the Pocket Rocket again, with the final play of the game, Ricardo was too slippery for an exhausted Basildon defence and sealed the deal 4-3 to Rochford.

An excellent overall team performance with some moments of individual flair.