Westcliff vs Rochford U15, Essex Cup Semi-Final, 27 March 2011

Westcliff started the brighter, catching the Rochford kick off cleanly and surging into Rochford territory. Rochford attempted to hold them back, but were soon caught offside, Westcliff opting to kick the penalty and open the scoring Westcliff 3 – Rochford 0. It was then Westcliff’s turn to defend and like Rochford had minutes before were caught offside, Josh Lipscombe kicking the penalty Westcliff 3 – Rochford 3. Rochford kept Westcliff under pressure, but the Westcliff defence was solid.

Despite trying a tapped penalty and a scrum from a penalty Rochford could make no headway, so opted to kick a penalty for a subsequent high tackle Westcliff 3 – Rochford 6. With only about ten minutes gone the score stayed the same, with both sides trying hard to create an opening. Rochford came close, a kick over the top was fumbled over their own line and touched down. Rochford failed to capitalise from the 5 yard scrum, somehow managing to kick the ball out of the scrum, for Westcliff to touch down again, Rochford didn’t get a chance to try again from the scrum as half time had arrived.

The second half like the first was cagey, Rochford keeping Westcliff in their own half, with Westcliff looking to break out and catch Rochford on the break. Rochford came close to scoring several times, but the final ball seemed to keep going astray. The breakthrough however seemed to come about five minutes before the game ended, the ball was worked wide to Perry Livingstone who managed to get over the try line, only to be prevented from touching it down cleanly, by the Westcliff backs.

The failed attempt possibly gave Rochford some belief that they could eventually score, as from the next attack, Musa Yusuff went charging through for a try Westcliff 3 – Rochford 11. With the score having remained so close for the majority of the match, Westcliff had no real time to get back in the game, and were hit from the restart by another determined Rochford attack allowing Perry Livingstone to increase the score Westcliff 3 – Rochford 16.

The final score was a comfortable win for Rochford, which belies the 50 minutes of effort by both sides, Rochford pressing for an opening and Westcliff resolute in defence.