Another debut in this match saw Andrea Marasco make his bow for Rochford. The team was without its first choice props but the performance by Jacob Lipscombe and Jack Cahill who stepped up to join hooker Spencer Crowhurst will leave Gareth with a real headache. The big Basildon pack didn’t dominate and Rochford won their share of ball from the scrum.
Despite the best efforts of what is a very good Basildon attack, the Rochford defence shut them out for the entire first half and went into the break with the match scoreless.
The second half began as the first finished and eventually the pressure told and Basildon began to push towards the Rochford line, scoring a couple of tries to put the tie out of reach. They added two more tries when panic ensued behind the try line with Rochford in possession. Rather than touching down and taking a 5 metre scrum the ball was thrown and Basildon merely had to touch down. After that heads began to drop and one last try finished the game.
The performance in the first half was one to be remembered and the team should focus on the positives against a very strong Basildon side.
Full time – Rochford 0 Basildon 25