Rochford 31 Chelmsford 7
(London Two North East League)
Chelmsford slumped to a disappointing defeat against local rivals Rochford, in very wet and muddy conditions, although credit to both teams who tried to play an expansive game whenever possible. This was Chelmsford’s first game after the Christmas and New Year period, as both games against Rochford and Braintree had been postponed due to the wet weather. As this Saturday was a blank weekend as far as league fixtures went, then this game was suitably re-arranged.
Coach Eddie Gooby was a frustrated man, as he had 11 front line players missing, either injured or unavailable for selection and this must be a worrying aspect for him. Already this season he has used 35 players and there is a need for players to show a greater commitment towards training, otherwise the season is going to drift away for them. This was now their 3rd loss in the last 4 games, after seeing the squad put together a 7 match winning sequence from September to November when the squad was a settled unit.
Rochford adapted to the conditions better than Chelmsford did and whilst the visitors had good territory for a majority period of the game, their final execution was not up to scratch, their first up tackling was let them down and whilst the players that came in tried hard, there was a lack of quality on the field of play. Coupled with the fact that influential full back, Simon Hoult, suffered a recurrence of a thigh strain sustained 7 weeks ago in the first few minutes of the game, then Chelmsford’s attacking options were going to be tested.
Chelmsford started the brighter side and put together some good attacking play, but within 5 minutes the home scored the first of their 5 tries. Fly half Rhys Mason put in a good cross kick to left wing Seb Hill, but a combination of the wet conditions and the bounce of the ball led to Rochford breaking out from their own 22 and running the length of the pitch to score a fortuitous try, which was converted taking them into a 7 – 0 lead. Unfortunately for Chelmsford matters got worse when a clearance kick failed to find touch and a good break down the left hand side with support on the inside saw Rochford score a well taken try, to bring the score line to 12 – 0 to the hosts. On the half hour mark, full back Simon Hoult had to leave the field and he was replaced by Rhys Whitelock.
A terrific positional kick from Rochford’s fly half saw play taken deep into Chelmsford’s 22 and whilst Chelmsford did manage to clear the ball away, once again they failed to find touch and paid the penalty when a Rochford player scythed his way through the Chelmsford defence to score a good try, which was duly converted. The score was now 19 – 0 and effectively the game over as far as Chelmsford were concerned. Just minutes before half time, prop Phil Dechamp was yellow carded for retaliation and this proved crucial for Chelmsford, as two tries were scored when they were down to 14 men.
One minute into the second half, Rochford broke through the tackles in central midfield and with the ball being recycled, Rochford scored their 4th try in the left hand corner to take the score to 24 – 0. Just minutes later Rochford won the ball from a scrum, the ball was fed down the back line and a try was scored in the left hand corner, which was well converted to bring the score to 31 – 0. With the penalty count 4 to 1 in Chelmsford’s favour, they failed to capitalise on this, but they were rewarded for their persistence when left wing Seb Hill made a good run, and with the ball going through the phases, second row, Nick Sany was on hand to score in the corner, with the try being converted by Rhys Mason, to bring the score to 31 – 7. On the stroke of the final whistle, Chelmsford had an opportunity for a try in the left hand corner, but unfortunately for Seb Hill, he couldn’t get the ball down, so Rochford ran out worthy winners by 31 points to 7.
Coach Eddie Gooby was philosophical after the game when he said “the long lay off showed today and our timing was out and we were slightly off the pace in terms of finishing, so when you look at the score it looks like a big defeat but in general pay we matched Rochford from numbers 1 to 15 .
We had no excuses today everyone gave their all and the younger players are growing with every game. We have to stay positive and believe that the way we are trying to play with this group of players, we know it will come good.
The trouble we have within the club at the moment is putting out the same squad on a regular basis so we all grow and develop together throughout the club. Training is a key over the next few weeks so this new group of players will become tighter in our skill set and patterns.”