U13s vs Basildon Match report

Today, on a bright, clear and cold April morning, we took on Basildon in a re-arranged friendly at Magnolia Park. To help prepare both sides for next season it was agreed that we would play a 15 a side game using the full pitch.

Rochford started but Basildon starting brightly and were soon attacking the Rochford line, however, some great defence from Harri and Daniel H prevented an early score who then passed the ball to Luke P who ran the length of the pitch to score. Rochford were soon to add to the scoring after a strong run from Scott set up Luca who in turn fed Ethan to score in the corner. Arda then made a great run through and was unlucky not to breakthrough before Basildon turned the ball over and were only prevented from scoring by a great tackle from Daniel, ably supported by Harri. Rochford kept playing great rugby and soon added to their tally after good work from Tom and Arda set up Connor to bulldoze through.

Right from the kick off, a good catch and run from Barney set up Arda who made further ground before feeding the ball to Tom to take the score to 20-0. Basildon kept pressing and Alex made a good tackle to break their drive which allowed Rochford to press again, forcing Basildon to kick to clear their lines, but unluckily for them, Daniel playing as full back caught the ball well and made a great deal of ground before passing to Tom to score his second of the game. Rochford took the score to 30-0 after a quick bit of thinking from Luke P to collect the ball and power through. After this, a great run from the Basildon back, got them their first points. The game was now going from end to end, with Harri producing a great run to set up Ethan, who couldn’t quite get through to add to his haul, but Basildon came back and only a last ditch tackle from Max prevented them reducing the deficit, and with great tackles flying in all over the park, notably from Thomas, Scott, Jamie, Noah and Luca.

In an action packed first half there was still time for Arda to make another run to set up Luca to score before Basildon replied, despite some great tackles from the Rochford backs, which meant the half ended at 35-10.

Basildon started the second half strongly, and only a fabulous tackle from Kai prevented an early try, though Basildon were not to be denied for long and reduced the deficit and we felt that the next try could prove to be crucial to determine the outcome of the match. Rochford reacted superbly and Luke P scored his third try in typical fashion, though back came Basildon to keep Rochford in striking distance at 40-20. Rochford dug in, with all players contributing but special mention must go to the slighter players, Kai, Freddie, Billy and Alex for making great tackles to hold the score. In addition, the forward line of Luke C, George, Oakley and Barnaby pressed Basildon back and after a good kick from Max, Kai scored a great try in the corner. Rochford were now firmly on top and Scott kept driving through and was unlucky not to score, but Rochford soon took their points tally to 50 courtesy of Max, and this soon became 55 after a quick restart from Luca enable him to sneak down the blindside to score in the corner.

Unfortunately, probably the frustration of playing against a larger squad of players and the extra exertion this took on them, particularly on the larger pitch took its toll on a couple of Basildon players who lost their cool before the referee called time. This was a shame as up to that point it had a been a great game of Rugby, between two evenly matched sides and excellently refereed by young Joe Dowler.

Man of the match = The whole squad, as the Rochford team behaved impeccably throughout and did not react to the flashpoints!

Final Score Rochford 55 – Basildon 20

Tries

Luke P (3), Luca and Tom (2), Connor, Ethan, Kai, Max (1 each)