Basildon vs. Rochford Under 15s, 19 September 2010

Both teams looked up for a game and both started brightly, until a collision between 3 players (2 Rochford & 1 Basildon) meant a pause in play, with Jedd Donnelly being forced to retire. Soon after the restart Rochford got their first breakthrough with Mitchell Bennett playing his first game, running for the lowest corner of the pitch to evade the defence, before scoring between the post, Matthew Barnes scoring the conversion Basildon 0 – Rochford 7. Basildon’s defence held firm for a while, before Sean Prior followed Mitchell’s example running down the same wing to score out wide, Matthew missing the resultant conversion Basildon 0 – Rochford 12. Not happy with a single first game try, Mitchell again received the ball out wide and beat the defence to score his second, Matthew Barnes again converting Basildon 0 - Rochford 19. Further Rochford pressure then saw Perry Livingstone pick up the ball from the back of a scrum and run through the defence to score the last try of the half, Hayden Smith missing the conversion, Half time score Basildon 0 – Rochford 24.

To make sure all players got a game Rochford made a number of half time replacements, the second half though, did not go as well as the first. Whereas Basildon had given away a number of penalties for off-side in the first half, it seemed to be Rochford who made more infringements in the second gifting Basildon far more territory. Well into the half Ben Nock managed to score in the corner, the long conversion falling short. Shorty afterwards lots of Rochford pressure saw James Arney also score on the same wing, just managing to place the ball on the line whilst being tackled, the game ending Basildon 0 – Rochford 34.

The game was a good first game for Rochford, the Basildon forwards competing well at the breakdown and the backs stretching the Rochford defence, who especially in the second half came under considerable pressure without conceding. Musa Yusuff, like Mitchell playing his first game made a good contribution in the pack, and also got several chances to run with the ball at the Basildon backs, Jackson Reid and Cameron Pitt likewise made several strong runs, and also felt Clark Pickering and Kyle Bury deserve a mention for the tigerish tackles they made.