Cup triumph for Romford!

It was a beautiful, bright day for rugby and the U14s made the final trip of the season down the A127 for their cup final against Rochford. Romford were well prepared for this game and from the start they were focused and determined that the cup was going to belong to them. Rochford piled the pressure on at the start of the game and were denied two tries in the first few minutes by an excellent Romford defence that managed to prevent the grounding of the ball both times. Rochford continued to press hard though and it wasn’t long before they managed to get over the whitewash and score their first unconverted try in the corner.

This galvanized Romford into action and they pushed up the field with the forwards applying real pressure in the middle of the park sucking defenders in and allowing space on the wing for Tom O’Meara to race down for Romford’s first unconverted try of the game.

Rochford continued to counter attack and managed to gain an unconverted score back before half time but Romford were very much in this game, it was nearly a half time draw but unfortunately Tom O’Meara’s second try was disallowed.

Half time: Rochford 10- 5 Romford

In the second half Romford really began to dominate this game, Rochford could not cope with the pressure Romford’s forwards were putting on them and were being pushed back down the field forcing them into handling errors and into scrums which Romford were winning. A penalty on the 22 and some slick passing enabled Michael Sultana to burst through the Rochford defence and touch down close to posts, this try beautifully converted by the ice cool Sam Slatford to give Romford the lead.

Romford briefly switched off and this allowed Rochford an unconverted try almost immediately but the U14s switched back on and they fully dominated the last quarter of this game. The pressure Romford were placing on their opposition began to tell and they spent most of the remaining half in Rochford’s end. Ade Olaleye almost grounded a spectacular try in the corner but a stray hand in touch denied him. A penalty on the 22 however did lead to Ade Olaleye forcing himself through several defenders to touch down under the posts and again Sam Slatford converted.

Romford saw out the rest of the half with a very vocal supporting crowd encouraging them every step of the way! The full time whistle confirming a very well deserved cup win. Well done Romford U14s!

Final score:

Rochford 15
Romford 19

Tries: Tom O’Meara, Michael Sultana, Ade Olaleye
Conversions: Sam Slatford (2)

Squad: L. Metcalf (c), M. Courtney, C. Welly-Hardy, H. Runham, B. Watts, B. Walton, J. Mimms, M. Sultana, B. Shawyer, T. O’Meara, L. Harris, S. Slatford, L. Potter, R. Blinkhorne, O. Flower, R. Page, R. Pooley, A. Olaleye, T. Adewole, N. Fragjaj, T. Polius, S. Kerr