The boys have played Braintree every season since moving into the youth section and had yet to score a victory. They travelled with a depleted squad due to illness (Daniel Harvey and Henry Willis) and injury (Louis Croll and James Cowland). Hopefully they’ll all be fit again soon. Just to add to Gareth’s headache James Mowle arrived with his own headache and Chris Martin stepped in to start at loose-head prop.

The front row started with Daniel House at tight-head prop, Joe Mitchell at hooker and Chris Martin at loose-head. Jack Cahill and Sean Honey started in the second row, Reece Garstin started at openside flanker with Jack Stickings at blindside and Austen King at number 8. Liam Baker began at scrum-half, Tom Harris at fly-half, Reiss Sellwood and Aaron Cocks at inside and outside centre with James Berry and Connor Jones on the wings. Corey Lazell completed the side at full-back.

Rochford began on the front foot and pushed into the Braintree half. Winning the rucks and recycling the ball quickly. Early on the handling wasn’t as sharp as it could be and that kept the scores level and stopped Rochford from making the most of their possession. However, another drive into the Braintree half saw the ball break to Jack Stickings, taking the ball at speed he broke the tackle and open the scoring for the visitors.

From the restart Rochford began to press again, keeping the ball well and to a great extent dominating the scrums. The referee had to stop play for a knock to a Braintree head and after a welcome short break for water the game restarted. Both teams had been warned about putting the ball into the scrum correctly and they both gave away free-kicks by pushing the put-in a bit too far. With the game continuing to see Rochford have a territorial edge, another attack down the left saw Jack Stickings get through another gap in the Braintree defence to double both his try count and the score.

With the clock ticking down to half time Rochford went on the attack again, recycling the ball and making good use of the space out wide. Inside the Braintree twenty two, Liam Baker passed the ball to Tom Harris who faked a pass out wide which wrong footed the defence and allowed him to get through the gap and score Rochford’s third try which he successfully converted.

Half-time – Braintree 0 Rochford 17

At half time Gareth bought on James Mowle into the front row and Jack Murphy replacing Sean Honey in the second row. Chris Martin moved to the wing to replace Connor Jones who was feeling the effects of a knock to the head.

The second half began as the first had finished with Rochford in the ascendancy, pushing into the Braintree half. A break down the right moved Rochford into the twenty-two. From a scrum Rochford won the ball and went to the openside and a combination between Tom Harris and Reiss Sellwood created just enough of a gap for Reiss to power through and take the defender with him as he dived over the line. Again Tom Harris successfully added the extra points.

Braintree began to commit more players in the ruck and this gave them more time to secure the ball and move it out to the backs. A kick over the top from the home side saw the ball bounce wickedly away from Corey Lazell and perfectly for the Braintree attacker who took the ball without breaking his stride and sprinted for the line, only just beating Corey for pace.

This score gave Braintree a well needed boost and they continued to keep the ball and make the most of the extra men in the ruck. To Rochford’s credit they didn’t get sucked in and kept the defensive line strong. Another kick to relieve the pressure by the Braintree fly-half dropped into the space behind the Rochford defence and they were able to get the best of the bounce and break through to score again. Gareth bought Sean Honey back on after a knock to Daniel House saw him unable to continue. Jack Stickings switched to tight head and Sean went to flanker.

The score by their opponents sparked Rochford into life and they began to press forward, probing the Braintree defence to try and find a weakness. With the boys now within sight of the Braintree ten metre line the ball broke to Sean Honey, who with three defenders hanging off him burst for the line. Unfortunately Sean didn’t open his account for Rochford as the referee, working with a huge pile of boys in the way couldn’t see whether the ball had been grounded so gave the defending team the benefit of the doubt. Only later would we see a photo of the angle that would have enabled the try to be given.

Full time – Braintree 10 Rochford 24

This was an epic performance, described by Gareth as the best he had ever seen from the boys. All you can ask of them is that the come off the pitch having given their all, and that’s exactly what they did. The boys have grown and can now compete physically with a big Braintree side. They can enjoy the win but must be prepared to step up their game again for the league fixture as Braintree certainly will.

Again the Man of the Match award could have gone to anyone, but the honours went to Tom Harris for his drive, organisation and energy in the centre and for a cracking try.

Tries
Jack Stickings 2
Tom Harris
Reiss Sellwood

Conversions
Tom Harris 2

1, Chris Martin; 2, Joe Mitchell; 3, Daniel House; 4, Jack Cahill; 5, Sean Honey; 6, Jack Stickings; 7, Reece Garstin; 8, Austen King; 9, Liam Baker; 10, Tom Harris; 11, Connor Jones; 12, Reiss Sellwood; 13, Aaron Cocks; 14, James Berry; 15, Corey Lazell; 16, Jack Murphy; 17, James Mowle

Rochford Hundred Rugby Club

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