Southend vs Rochford Hundred U16 - Friendly - 30-Oct 2011

Southend vs Rochford Hundred U16 Friendly 30-Oct 2011
Southend 5 – Rochford 17

Rochford kicked off and proceeded to spend just about all of the first half in attacking, Southend had at least half the possession, but found it hard to break out of their own half. Rochford were a bit loose with their passing, the ball often going to ground, and came close to scoring when Cameron Pitt went over the try line, but spilled the ball in the process.
Rochford looked better in the second half, and opened the scoring when James Spicer picked up the ball from a scrum, passing to Niall Prior who then created some space for Clark Pickering to beat the last couple of defenders to score after a long run in. With Rochford conceding far too many penalties, Southend managed to put them under a period of pressure and were rewarded with a try, to bring the game level at 5-5. Ben Nock went over soon afterwards, unfortunately the referee was not close enough, to see if it was put down cleanly and Southend managed to clear from the resulting Rochford scrum. With Southend steadily tiring from the Rochford attacks, Rochford threatened more with Brenton Bird scoring and Matthew Barnes converting. With the half running out some good passing allowed Liam Bass to score, the game ending Southend 5 – Rochford 17.
Soroosh Hamayun played well in his first game for the club, supporting Clark for his try, and several useful tackles, and Niall Prior’s decision to play a further season, saw him fill in at several positions in the scrum, when Nathan Rothwell was forced to retire from the game with concussion after a clash of heads.