South Woodham Ferrers vs Rochford Under 11s, 9th October 2011

Tyler Scott and Ben Cannon were back in the front row for this game and with Spencer Crowhurst at hooker. James Mowle and Christopher Martin both moved to the second row. Brandon Smith and Tom were in the centre with Liam Baker at fly-half, Nicholas Campen at full-back and Callum Hishon and Jack Chandler on the wing.

South Woodham kicked off and immediately Rochford began to surge forward. Eventually the ball broke to Liam Baker who made a mazy run and touched down for what he thought was his second try of the season. Unfortunately one of the spectators had spotted a foot in touch and a lineout was awarded to South Woodham ten meters from the try line. To add insult to injury Liam then realised that it had been his dad Paul who had signalled for the lineout. You can’t say Rochford aren’t fair.

He wasn’t to be stopped and within a couple of minutes he had made another run and touched down for the first score of the day. Only a few minutes later Nicholas Campen kicked up field and chased the ball down relentlessly and as he tackled the South Woodham player on the try line the ball was spilled and Jack Chandler was on hand to touch down. A try well deserved for his support play. Liam Baker slotted over the conversion.

Rochford attacked again and eventually the ball was passed (yes, passed) to Christopher Martin who forced his way over the line to score our third. Nicholas Campen finished off the scoring for the first half with a typical surging run which South Woodham were unable to do anything about.

Half time 22-0

The second half began as the first ended with Rochford in the ascendancy putting pressure on the South Woodham line. Nicholas Campen made another barnstorming run to score his second of the match. Minutes later Callum Hishon made a couple of runs down the right wing but was pushed out of play both times just short of the line. He wasn’t to be denied and a step inside on his next run gave him the space to force his way over the line. He hadn’t seen too much of the ball up till then but was always well positioned to support the ball carrier.

James Berry followed up with a brace of tries from his trademark runs to force over the line. Ben Cannon, who took over the kicking for the second half, kicked both the conversions. By this time South Woodham had lost a prop and the scrums were uncontested for the rest of the match. They were also beginning to kick more often to ease the pressure on their line and some bustling runs from James Mowle and Brandon Smith kept the pressure on. One such hoof down field was caught by Christopher Martin who returned the kick and saw it bounce and cross the side line a metre from the South Woodham line. The pressure was back on again.

Yet another kick up field by South Woodham was caught and returned by Nicholas Campen for his third try of the day. By now Rochford were camped in the South Woodham half only retreating to retrieve the ball when it had been sent sailing over their heads.

South Woodham kicked long again to ease the pressure on their line and the looping ball was caught expertly by Tyler Scott who went on a run that saw opposition players bouncing off him. Eventually he was tackled and as he fell he popped a perfect pass to Christopher Martin who burst through the last defenders to score Rochford’s tenth and final try of the day.

The final score 56-0 but it could have been more. Far too often Rochford players decided to take on the entire South Woodham team on their own. If we ever start passing who knows how many tries we could score.