Putting Down A Marker

With the League run-in looming the Under 14s travelled to Maldon for a friendly against their league rivals who sit one place and one point below them. While the two teams have already played their league fixture which ended in a Rochford win by three points back in October.

With a large number of boys unavailable Gareth was forced to play a number of them out of position. It has been some time since the team went into a match with only 18 available. On the plus side we saw the return to competitive action of Jacob Lipscombe who has had a series of injuries and illnesses, limiting him to around 70 minutes of rugby all season.

The front row started with Jack Stickings at tight-head prop, Joe Mitchell at hooker and James Mowle at loose-head. Elliott Parsell and Jack Cahill started in the second row, Reece Garstin started at openside flanker with Reiss Sellwood at blindside and Henry Willis at number 8. Liam Baker began at scrum-half, Corey Lazell stepped forward to fly-half, Joseph Cottam moved to inside centre and Christopher Hastings moved to outside centre with Aaron Cocks and Jacob Wright on the wings. Callum Blackman completed the side at full-back.

It was vital that Rochford started playing from the first whistle and that’s what they did. They put Maldon on the back foot from the start which made a refreshing change for the notorious slow starters. With Rochford pushing towards the Maldon twenty-two Jack Stickings made a trademark break and was eventually tackled around 8 metres from the Maldon line. Unlike previous matches this time he had support and James Mowle took a pop-pass perfectly stepped inside one defender, handed off a second and touched down under the posts for his first try of the season. Joseph Cottam made no mistake with the conversion.

Maldon didn’t take this lying down and were clearly up for the game as they started to fight back. The game developed into an open exciting encounter with both teams making ground and looking for that vital opening. Rochford put together a series of phases that saw them move deep into the Maldon twenty-two and with a series of pick and gos from the forwards it was Reece Garstin who made the last couple of yards to the try line. Again Joseph Cottam made no mistake with the conversion.

Rochford began to play expansive rugby, making the most of the speed of Aron Cocks and Jacob Wright on the wings and Joseph Cottam and Christopher Hastings being no slouches either at centre. They began to punch holes in the Maldon defence and eventually it paid off with Jacob Wright taking the ball at speed and making a run down the right wing to score Rochford’s third try.

Half-time – Maldon 14 Rochford 19

The second half started with three changes with Chris Martin coming on at hooker, Daniel Harvey at blindside flanker and Jacob Lipscombe at Number 8.

The second half started as the first ended with both sides making ground and pressing the line, trying to find a gap. Another run from Jacob Wright saw him take a knock to his knee and unable to continue Henry Willis came back on to play in an unfamiliar right wing role.

With Maldon pushed back to their own five metre line, Rochford again dominant in the ruck, securing the ball Liam Baker backed himself and went on the blindside, only for the ball to be knocked from his grasp before he could touch down. Refusing to settle for their lead they attacked again. A drive from Jack Stickings got Rochford close and a pick and go from Liam Baker got them closer still. When Henry Willis got the ball he had three defenders in front of him and still managed to sidestep then and get through the smallest of gaps to score Rochford’s fourth.

With Maldon pushing into the Rochford half the defence stood firm and eventually they secured the ball and pressed back. The Rochford backs again made full use of their speed and eventually the ball made its way to Henry Willis who left the defence standing to sprint 50 metres to score his second of the game and Rochford’s fifth.

Full time – Maldon 19 Rochford 29

It was important that the boys moved on from the disappointing display against South Woodham. This performance showed that the boys can put into their game all the work they do in training and still produce the goods, even with several players in positions they aren’t used to. It was important that the boys gave themselves a lift going into the vital games ahead, and if they can produce that sort of performance every week they should have no worries.

Henry Willis was chosen as Man of the Match for his great first half performance at number 8 and two well taken tries playing out of position in the second.

Tries
James Mowle
Reece Garstin
Jacob Wright
Henry Willis 2

Conversions
Joseph Cottam 2

1, James Mowle; 2, Joe Mitchell; 3, Jack Stickings; 4, Elliott Parsell; 5, Jack Cahill; 6, Reiss Sellwood; 7, Reece Garstin; 8, Henry Willis; 9, Liam Baker; 10, Corey Lazell; 11, Aaron Cocks; 12, Joseph Cottam; 13, Chris Hastings; 14, Jacob Wright; 15, Callum Blackman; 16, Daniel Harvey; 17, Jacob Lipscombe; 18, Chris Martin