Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Rochford Fixtures 2009/10


U18's in Bold

30/08/2009
06/09/2009 Senior COUNTY Trials
13/09/2009
20/09/2009
27/09/2009 COUNTY Trials
04/10/2009 Thanet (A) Folkstone/H3 (A)
11/10/2009 Worthing (A) Worthing (A)
18/10/2009 COUNTY Match Eastern Counties (A)
25/10/2009 Aylesford (A) Aylesford Cluster/SSB (A)
01/11/2009 Beckenham (H) Beckenham (H)
08/11/2009 COUNTY Match Triangular Eastern Counties / Kent
15/11/2009 Suffolk Sabres Lakenham Hewett (A)
22/11/2009 COUNTY Match
29/11/2009 H3 (H) TBA
06/12/2009 COUNTY Match
13/12/2009 Aylesford (H) Aylesford Cluster (H)
20/12/2009 Saracens (A) Saracens (A)
27/12/2009 CHRISTMAS
03/01/2010 Lakenham Hewett (H) Lakenham Hewett (H)
10/01/2010 SSB (A) H3 (A)
17/01/2010 REGIONAL TRIALS
24/01/2010 Thanet (H) Folkestone (H)
31/01/2010 National Cup
07/02/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
14/02/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
21/02/2010 REGIONAL MATCH
28/02/2010 H3 Cluster (H) SSB (H)
07/03/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
14/03/2010 National Cup
21/03/2010 REGIONAL MATCH
27/03/2010 REGIONAL TRAINING
28/03/2010 Beckenham (A) Beckenham (A)
04/04/2010 Club Tour Weekend
11/04/2010 REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
18/04/2010 Worthing (H) Worthing (H)
25/04/2010 H3 (A) TBA
02/05/2010 Worthing 10s Worthing 10s
09/05/2010
16/05/2010
23/05/2010

29/05/2010 NATIONAL 7'S TBC

Please note these fixtures are subject to change. Please check with Team Managers for confirmation of fixtures.

Worthing v Rochford U15's






Friday, October 16, 2009

Monday, October 12, 2009

Week 2

Sunday 11th Oct
Yesterday saw both the U15’s and the U18’s travel to Worthing for the second round of the league fixtures.
After a hot and long coach journey (largely in part to the driver being unable to tell hot from cold on the a/c system, and knowing better than his sat nav how to get to Worthing rugby club by miraculously avoiding all roads that were free from traffic), the girls arrived fit and rareing to go.

U15’s
Rochford got off to the best possible start when captain Olivia Stembridge collected the kick off and managed to outpace the Worthing defence to score in the opening minute. Rochford maintained pressure on the Worthing defence and worked the ball wide to Abbie Graham to sprint away for another try after 10 minutes. Good work from the forwards kept Worthing on the back foot and quick ball down the line saw debutant Charlotte Gower denied a first try by a last dicth tackle, but Jessica Charles followed up on the loose ball to score again for Rochford.There was then a sustained piece of pressue by the Worthing pack that penned Rochford back on their goal line, but after several 5 metre scrums the Rochford defence held and they gradually worked the ball upfield before Abbie Cook streaked away to score and make it
20 - 0 at half time. After the break Rochford continued to maintain pressure on the Worthing defence and the pace of the back line was too much for Worthing to handle as Abbie Graham finished off good handling moves with 2 more tries. As the half wore on the Rochford forwards started to get the upper hand and repeated drives to the Worthing line resulted in tries from Faye Smace and Maddie Lockwood. Rochford continued to attack a now dispirited Worthing side and Abbie Graham scored her 4th try in the last minute of the game to give Rochford a 50 - 0 victory.

U18’s
As with the U15’s the girls got off to a great start when after 2 minutes Ellie collected a great pass from Yaz and broke the Worthing defence to crash over 5-0. With the home side being put on the back foot by some excellent play by the forwards Jen collected the ball from the back of a ruck and drove through to make it 10-0. Quick tries followed from Hannah and stumpy before the break. Having lost Frances to an arm injury, a reshuffle of the pack saw Amy come in for her first start at Hooker with Stumpy moving to prop.
The forwards were continually hitting the Worthing defence and with Jen getting quick ball to Yaz to set the backs off, further tries from Stumpy, Lucie and Tash quickly followed. With Lucie converting one of her kicks the girls finished winners 37-0.
All credit to a great Worthing side who despite not being able to mount one serious challenge on the Rochford line never gave up, and their defence at times stopped the score being even greater.

Team: Jemma, Amy, Stumpy, Cat, Daisy, Ellen, Becki, Meg, Jen, Yaz, Ellie, Lucie, Tash, Hannah, Emma and frances.

Again well done to both teams for a great performance .

Following the Game, Worthing nominated Stephanie from the U15’s as their player of the match and from the U18’s they gave the award to Jen. (Well done girls)
Reports courtesy of Peter Cook and Phil Robson
Photos to follow

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Sunday 4th October 09


Meg & Ellen




Jen & Tash

Jemma,Cat,Ellen, Becky & Meg












Nearly There !!!














Nice Hands Lucie


Jemma (3) Becky (15) Meg (4) Mouse (13)
oh and Stumpy lying down





"Off the back of the scrum from Jen"









Tash (6) about to set of on another jinking run!!!










Great lifting from Cat & Frances as Meg steals the ball











Well here it is the start of another long season.
Both U15’s and U18’s started the defence of the league titles they won last year. The U15’s travelled to play Thanet and the U18’s travelled to Folkestone to play a triangular with Folkestone and H3
Both sides have changed considerably from those of last year, with many new girls joining both teams and with instructions to play to enjoy from the coaches. Last seasons intensity to win win, has been replaced with a more relaxed coaching ethos of enjoy and the results will come !

U15’s
The U15’s opened their 2009/2010 campaign on the sunny Kent coast town of Broadstairs, against Thanet RFC.
A number of players were missing due to injury and other commitments so the majority of the team were either playing their first competitive match or had this year moved up from the mini section.
From the kick off Rochford showed their intention with a demonstration of good support play and great handling skills which resulted in a quick try in the corner by Amber Charlemange. This remained the theme throughout the first half with Rochford simply using their pace out wide, with good scrummaging and mauling work by the forwards to create the platform for the backs to exploit their superiority. The Thanet girls refused to give up and showed dogged determination in their defence whilst continually taking every opportunity to attack the Rochford line. The second half was an extension of the first with Rochford taking their chances, using the wide pitch to provide their wingers the space needed to get past their opponents defence.
Further tries by Abigail Graham (6 in total), Olivia Stembridge, Jessica Charles, Stephanie Smith, Claire Yearwood and Maddie Lockwood ended the game with a final score of Rochford 73 – Thanet 0. Maddie successfully converting 4 of the tries scored.

U18’s
Game 1 saw the home side take to the pitch against Rochford, some early pressure from the forwards saw the 1st 10 minutes being played inside the Folkestone 10 metre line. This sustained pressure was eventually rewarded when Sam went over to open the scoring.Folkestone then started to come back into the game and quickly responded with 2 tries to go in at half time 10-5 up. The second half started as the 1st with Rochford applying pressure on the Folkestone back line. Again the pressure was rewarded when Lucie went over to level the scores. With only minutes left, a surge through the centre from Folkestone was rewarded with a try under the post which was duly converted to give the game 17-10 to Folkestone.
Having watched the 2nd game which was Folkestone against H3 we knew that we were in for a physical game in our final match.
The game against H3 started pretty much as the 1st game with our forwards continually applying pressure to their back line.
After 5mins Jen broke through to crash over to make it 5-0. Shortly after the try H3 asked the ref to go uncontested in the scrums which took our advantage away. With a new and inexperienced back line our girls soon paid the price with their wingers running in 4 tries to make it 20-5. The2nd half again started with our girls applying pressure and trying to get the ball out to the wings. Following a couple of dangerous tackles which went totally unpunished by the match official we lost two of our backs in Hannah and Sophie who are now both doubtful for the trip to Worthing next week. Despite the total inaction by the official who always claimed to be the only person in the ground not to have seen the two tackles that forced the girls off, our girls refused to rise to the bait and tried to play rugby as it should be played.Further tries from H3 made the final score 31-5.
Despite the results the girls played as if they were enjoying the game and came off with smiles on their faces.
With 5 girls in the starting line up who had only ever played tag at school, the whole team performed exceptionally well and the coaching and management staff are proud of each and every one of them.
Team; Sam, Jemma, Frances, Cat, Amy, Ellen, Meg, Lucie, Jen, Yaz, Tash, Hannah, Daisy, Sophie, Becky, Emma, Jade and Lucy

Well done girls you were brilliant

Match reports Courtesy of J Stembridge & P Robson , Pictures Courtesy of Will Tysterman