PUT TO THE SWORD !

In fact if Rochford had not taken their collective foot off the gas in the second half it would and should have been more.

This comprehensive win has come at just about the right time with some hard fixtures coming up over the next few weeks and the boost to the teams morale will do no harm whatsoever.

The home side came out as they finished last week with all guns blazing and attacked Welwyn from the start. The beginning of the seven try bonanza got under way when impressive prop Josh Berry went over for the first of his brace of tries which Tom Ashton duly converted.

Rochford’s lineout continued to improve with George Chipper, James Needham and Ross Murphy proving good quality ball for scrum half Simon Webb to distribute. This he did and the back division with room to move ran their Hertfordshire opponents ragged with some very fine, fast rugby.

Number Eight George Chipper showed his power by forcing his way over the line for the next try and then stand off Dan Needham finished off a terrific piece of play when Ashton broke through and sped for the line. A quick pass to the supporting Needham saw him run in. Ashton converted and Rochford had a comfortable 19 - 0 lead.

Next up was young Josh Berry for his second try before what was, perhaps the best effort of the afternoon when full back Matt Stewart went over to finish a high quality sequence of interplay between forwards and backs. Once again Tom Ashton added to his conversion rate and the home side turned round 31 – 0 up at the break.

To their credit Welwyn battled hard but, in this mood, Rochford were just too quick and skilful and it was a far cry from their previous encounter in the dismal drew at Welwyn.

As it turned out the visitors dug in and fought a rearguard action while Rochford continued to push hard, but with not quite the intensity of the first half.

Darren Spencer, playing in his new position at flanker had an outstanding game and was involved in many moves and breakdowns. He was rewarded for his efforts with a well taken try after more pressure from the Rochford pack and Ashton converted to take the score to 38 – 0.

There were a number of missed chances due to some over complicated play and simple errors so the scoreboard remained the same until near the end when enterprising wing Greg Stubbs showed a fine turn of speed to his first try of the season and not before time as he has looked sharp over the past weeks. Ashton kicked the conversion over to land five out of seven attempts and can be well pleased with his overall contribution to the game.

The Rochford set piece looked far more formidable than of late and took ball against the head as well as supplying a steady stream on their own put in.

A well deserved team performance but the boys know that they will need to tighten up on a few things before they take on the likes of Chingford next week who will provide far sterner opposition.

Team: Berry, Corbet, Chivers, Murphy, Dyer, Needham J, Spencer, Chipper, Webb, Needham D, Stubbs, Ashton, Allen, Hall, Stewart.
Subs: Ellis, Wiseman, Ryan.