Rochford Hundred U16s vs Shelford - Friendly 20th Nov 2011

Shelford turned up with just the required 15 players, a valiant effort given the thick fog and the long journey, so everyone was hoping the fog would clear, as an hour before kick-off the centre spot could just about be seen from the touch line. Last year when the two clubs had met Shelford had been the clear winners, so the Rochford boys were ready for a tough game.
Rochford started a bit nervously, with the ball being knocked on several times, but got a big boost to their confidence, when after some good ball movement Kyle Bury scored out wide R5-S0. As someone commented it was probably the first time this season we had opened the scoring. Shelford looked to hit back, but from a penalty inside the Rochford 22. The ball was kicked to touch but over the try line, so the opportunity was lost. Shelford then kicked from inside their own 22, deep into Rochford’s half, the ball was collected by Matthew Barnes, who then ran forward, and having avoided a couple of tackles, kicked the ball over the top, before running forward to collect it himself and evade several further tackles to score R10-S0. From a scrum on the left, Rochford worked the ball to the other side of the pitch to Sean Prior on the wing, with only one player to beat he slipped on the wet grass somehow got back to his feet, and avoided the first tackle, as well as the second from another boy, who had by now got back to cover R 15-S0. Rochford looked to be playing so well Shelford could do little to prevent them scoring, as they spread out to cover the wings Rochford found holes in the middle, Brenton Bird exploiting one of these to increase the score, with Matthew Barnes converting R22-S0. Shelford’s next attack saw the make good progress again getting close to the try line, but a knock on allowed Rochford to kick to touch from the scrum for half time.
The second half was completely different, it was almost like the teams had changed shirts at half time. Rochford played themselves into trouble early on, trying to run the ball out, from a penalty in front of their own try line, and were punished by a Shelford try. This was soon followed by a couple more Shelford tries to make the score R22-S17, and it was now Rochford who were struggling to contain Shelford. Rochford tried to turn things around, and from a 5 yard scrum awarded when Perry Livingstone was held up, Shelford were penalised in the scrum and Perry made no mistake with his second attempt R27-S17. Shelford threw everything at Rochford, scoring another try, and nearly getting another, after a kick over the top, saw Matthew Barnes get to the ball first and kick it dead. It looked like only the final whistle could save a Rochford win, and somehow determined in defence, they held out for the remaining nail biting minutes, the game ending Rochford 27 – Shelford 22.