Barking vs. Rochford U15s, 17th October 2010

Being behind seemed to wake Rochford up and they pushed Barking backwards, with Musa Yusuff scoring from a line-out close to the Barking line Barking 5 – Rochford 5. Rochford attacked again with Mitchell Bennett scoring from a ball worked wide to him, when James Horsburgh caught a Barking clearance Barking 5 – Rochford 12. Good work by the Rochford forwards in the scrums and quick pressure from the backs were causing Barking problems, a Clark Pickering from a turned over scrum allowed Jedd to score Barking 5 – Rochford 19, and soon afterwards Barking made a fatal mistake from a penalty close to their own line in deciding to run it, then changing their mind and kicking clear, the ball went straight to the Rochford overlap about 22 yards out, Jedd Donnelly running the ball back and setting up Mitchell to score Barking 5 – Rochford 26, with the half time whistle shortly afterwards.

Rochford looked to continue as before in the second half, catching Barking clearances cleanly and running them back, with Jedd catching one and again passing to Mitchell to score Barking 5 - Rochford 33. Barking were by now looking tired from the relentless Rochford pressure, Cameron Pitt drove forward from a Rochford penalty and from the resulting close in scrum, the ball was again worked wide to Mitchell to score his fourth try Barking 5 – Rochford 40. Another good move came from a Rochford penalty right in front of the Barking posts, with all players getting in close, Barking tackled the player with the ball, but failed to spread out and were caught on the overlap when Rochford recovered the ball from the resulting ruck Barking 5 – Rochford 47. Hayden Smith managed to put the ball down over the Barking line, but was penalised for a double movement before, Barking managed a late conciliatory try to make the final score Barking 10 – Rochford 47.

Barking played well throughout what was a competitive but clean game and deserved their two trys, spurred on by a vocal but encouraging support, they never let their heads drop. Rochford had started badly, but they improved and with good work at scrums, line-outs and rucks, they made it very difficult for Barking to get usable possession, and with Barking frequently on the back foot defending their own line, were prone to gaps appearing which Rochford exploited. Thanks to Niall for the draft match report, his man of the match was Mitchell.