Match Report by Chris & Jane Berry

U8s vs Southend & Westcliff.
Game 1 vs Southend. Southend had the luxury of nearly 30 players, and 4 U8s teams on the day, and in this game put out their best side. The first half, on quite a short pitch, was evenly matched, with Rochford matching Southend try for try, and turning round at 3 all.
However, the second half was mainly one way traffic, all Southend. Rochford found it difficult to go forward at times, and turned the ball over too often, mainly from dropping the ball on the ground from passes, and the runners in the Southend team usually ensured these chances were converted into tries, despite some good tagging. Final score was a loss, 4-9.
Tries from Josh B (2), Thomas, James.

Game 2 vs Westcliff.
A very close game this. Some excellent running into space from Rochford, and good tagging, but the shortness of the= pitch usually meant that there was just not enough space to get to 7 tags before the try line was reached. Rochford
just edged the first half, being 2 tries in front at half time, but let Westcliff back into it during the second half, again with some unnecessary turnovers. The final move of the game saw Westcliff score the winning try, to finish at 7-6.
Tries from Chris H (2), Josh B, Fraser, James, Jack.

Game 3 vs Southend.
This was played against Southend’s second team, but still a very good side. In this game though, Rochford really put some good moves together, with some fine passing
and running, good support play and tagging. Rochford were always in control of the game, but a couple of misplaced passes made the final score of 6-4 closer than it should have been.
Tries from Thomas (3), James, Chris H, Josh B.
Squad was ChrisH, Corey, Fraser, Harry, Jack, Jacob, James, Josh B, Josh F, Natasha, Ricardo.