Match Report by John Spivey

Rochford 30 Stanford-le-Hope 0
The first score came after Stefan crashed through the Stanford defence, opening up a big gap for Joe to get through to score his first try for Rochford. Rochford scrum and line out was strong, frequently winning ball allowing Rochford to keep possession and keep the Stanford players on the back foot.
Jake was having a strong game, tackling well and carrying the ball into the Stanford half. Angus and Ewan were also at their tackling best, at one point performing a big double hit on a short lived Stanford attack.
By the end of the match Jake had scored 2, Joe, Tom Child, Angus and Stefan had scored one each.

Rochford 30 Stanford-le-Hope 5
From the start Angus made good ground, just being bundled into touch on the Stanford try line, it didn’t matter! A scrappy line out saw Michael rip the ball out of a Stanford players hands to score a try. Angus then managed to get the next try, following another drive by Stefan.
By now, the Stanford coaches were getting wise to Stefan crashing through their defence, getting players to put numbers in to the tackle to stop his runs. One enthusiastic lad spent some time in the bin for punching Stefan, probably due in part to frustration. Good support from Tom Child and Jonathon in the mauls helped keep the pressure on.
Into the second half, Tom Finch opened up some neat passing play following a strong run which lead to a Rochford score. Further nice handling of ball by Matt Fitz-Patrick, Tom Child and Callum, showed Rochford can also move the ball around when it suits them.
Try scorers Stefan 2, Michael, Angus, Matt Fitz-Patrick, Tom Child all with one each.

Rochford 15 Stanford-le-Hope 5
Credit to Stanford! They came out for a third game eager for a win. Matt Dobson was unlucky not to score from the off, after the ref deemed a knock on . . . not sure why ? Not to worry though, as the ball spilled out of the Stanford scrum; Owen was in place to jump on the ball, opening up the score. Stefan then got a second toward the end of the half giving a good lead.
In the second half Rochford seemed to come “off song”, with a little lack of support both in the tackle and loose play. Michael performed a couple of try saving tackles where Stanford was able to break through our defence. Persistent pressure finally gave Stanford a deserving score and it still looked like they may score again to equalize. Luckily, Michael scored Rochford’s third try after a run down the line, to put us out of Stanford reach.
Let’s not underestimate this Rochford performance. Stanford has always been a competitive team, but today they could not live with the Rochford tackling, passing and commitment, a great performance!