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.
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
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.
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
