It's Maldon in the Cup for the U14s

On cold and wet winters day Rochford 100 under 14 entertained one of the top sides in Essex, despite them not having a terrific season as they have over the few previous years. In fairness we received a rugby lesson today that hopefully our boys will take on board and learn from, they where without doubt the best organised team we have come across and constantly adapted their play through out.

It was testimony to our team that they never let there heads dropped and in those last 12 - 15 minutes gave our opponents and scare and defended magnificently. The first half I developed a stiff neck as Maldon moved the ball quickly and permanently towards our try line. For the first 20 mins they scored from every set play from kick off and it looked more like one of those westerns where the Indians cause havoc with wave after wave attack.

They scored to the left , they scored to the right and we looked ambushed. Nevertheless there were some positives in that we posted an astonishing amount of tackles(up from last weeks record) and as listed above many a team member put in a shift. This I have to say this is a brilliant improvement on last year and previous games, in November. We found it very difficult as Maldon constantly changed and adapted and the 50 yard gain we made is the defining stat what was very hard going.

There was one superb piece of play where we finally got the ball out and moved forward and Louis was ready to receive and clear, sadly it was not to be.

I would describe Maldon intimidation as being very well organised, they gave very few penalties away and maintained a positive discipline through out the game, The Half time gave some respite and an opportunity for Rochford 100 to evaluate the battle of the Alamo, Full credit to the lads they listened got together and prepared to saddle up...

The second half started and again Rochford100 again faced the onslaught, however on this occasion it was further up the pitch, Maldon added to there lead, the tackles continued. The last 12-15 mins were however the best minutes we produced all season, where at times our opponents have continued to score today our lads dug in and finally took the game to our opponents.

The pleasing aspect in this last phase was that it appeared a team effort and it looked like we had gone over and achieved a try but it was not to be, however the last five minute phase of defending was great viewing, as Maldon again threw everything they had our organised defence stood tall and defended magnificently, As the rain came down my pen could not keep up with the tackle after tackle , hold up ,double tackle and defensive press.

An old sporting adage is that communication drops of significantly when a team is tired or losing, it was testimony to our team that in these last quarter of the game , it rose significantly . The Maldon coach was very complimentary regarding our team performance today and not letting our heads go down and it was no surprise the game ended with the ball being held up with the teams being prepared.

Omar was our man of the match today and richly deserved not only with his impressive percentage of tackles , his supportive play and running but like the Sheriff in a lawless town he stood tall from the beginning and was there to be counted, the cavalry came but on this occasion to late to save
the game.

Rochford 0-54 Maldon

Scrums
Maldon 6
R100 6( one against the head)

Penalties
Maldon 2
R100 1

Line outs
Maldon 2
R100 2

Yards Gained
First Half 50
Second half 180

Tackles
Omar 13%
Danny 10%
Max 8%
Dalton 8%
Matt 8%
Nathan 7%
Nick 6.5%

Please note it is my opinion that tackles may be under represented by actual calculation but not by percentage.
Total 77