Old Habs 1st XV vs Rochford Hundred 1st XV

After a wet week, Habs were set to welcome table toppers Rochford to Croxdale Road in only the third game to take place at our refurbished home this season. Several players and spectators remarked how it isn’t really fair to give the top side in the league a 100 point head start, but Habs were still confident after two good wins in recent weeks.

Habs started down the hill with a slight wind and light drizzle. With hindsight it would have been good to have a touch more than light drizzle, as in the early exchanges it was evident that our scrum would be one area we’d be able to give our visitors a real challenge. The conditions however, held up, and in the first quarter Rochford set about some well structured phase play, shifting the ball well into different areas of the field and making Habs work hard in defence. Habs tackled well in general but Rochford made use of some of their strong carriers to break down the Habs defence and eventually create the space to get their first score. 0-7.

Habs followed with their own period of possession and tried to settle into their patterns. Rochford defended with good line speed and some big tackles but Habs were able to grind their way up field and eventually won themselves a penalty which Ian “length” McGhee duly converted to make the score 3-7.

Thereafter the game went the way of Rochford as they defended very well and were clinical in attack. In particular they were very effective on the counterattack and when they managed to get their carrying forwards running in the midfield. Half time 3-28.

At half-time there was broad agreement when Josh Downie suggested that we attempt to win our own line out ball. Sadly we don’t have any coaches, but if we did JD would definitely be getting the call up!

The second half saw much of the same with Rochford continuing to score with frustrating regularity, particularly as Habs began to tire. Habs didn’t give up and on several occasions made good headway into scoring opportunities but Habs accuracy was lacking and the composure and consistent aggression of the Rochford defence kept Habs out and created turnovers from which the visitors could pounce.

It wasn’t until deep into the 2nd half that Habs finally managed to get a prolonged period of attack. Our efforts were helped by Charlie Johnson, as he tried to emulate Ben Elkington, using his face to bring down the Rochford second row. The ref took pity on brick top and awarded a yellow card to Rochford. This left the space needed for Habs to finally execute what they had been attempting for almost 80 minutes, as the Habs 12 ran straight down the 10 channel and through the Rochford 10. Whilst he probably had the gas to go round the Rochford fullback, he opted to have a rest around 1 yard out and present the ball perfectly for someone else to score. The crowd were finally given something to shout about and Habs were rewarded for sticking at it to the very end.

Rochford thoroughly deserved their victory and Habs will work hard to finish the year with a win net week against Amersham and Chiltern.

Final Score: Habs 8 - Rochford 161