Ashford RFC U14s Vs. Romford 12th November 06

Ashford 19 – Romford 20

On Sunday Ashford entertained Essex champions Romford. A side featuring 11 players from the Essex county squad. Ashford themselves have 9 players in the final Kent trial on 3^rd January, so were undeterred by their illustrious visitors.

From the kick off Ashford immediately applied pressure to the Romford line. On 7 minutes a back row move involving scrum half Rory Beech saw No.8 Chris Albrow ground the ball under the posts, only for the “try” to be disallowed for a forward pass. Ashford remained camped in the Romford “22” until a breakout on 12 minutes saw Ashford miscue a defensive kick and the Romford backline combined to score the match’s opening try.

Ashford went back on the offensive and again drove deep into Romford territory. On 18 minutes Romford relieved the pressure by kicking long and Ashford lost possession running from defence. Again the error was punished and Romford took a 10 point lead.

Undeterred, the Ashford pack with prop Danny Herriot and flanker Glen Caton to the fore, drove back into Romford territory. Eventually, on 22 minutes, Albrow broke from the scrum and scored Ashford’s opening try. Two minutes later Albrow again grounded the ball under the posts but an unsighted referee was unable to award the score.

Half time score Ashford 5 – Romford 10

Ashford fumbled the kick off and found themselves immediately under pressure. Defending their try line they rucked over the ball only to see a Romford player pick up and dive over for the opening score of the half.

From the restart Ashford again drove into Romford territory. However, lax defending was again punished when a fourth try was conceded 15 minutes into the half. Despite the score, the match was far from over and Ashford reintroduced some of their more experienced forwards to attempt to force a result. The substitutions paid off as pressure finally turned into points.

18 minutes into the half Albrow forced his way through 3 defenders to touch down. And 5 minutes later centre Gareth Jenner charged over. With both tries converted by winger Harry Atkins, the deficit was now just 1 point.

With time running down Ashford drove back into the Romford half. Romford were penalised and Ashford had the opportunity to win the match with a final penalty kick. Unfortunately the attempt went wide and the Essex visitors had escaped with the narrowest of victories. All in all, a good all round performance. However, given the territorial dominance of the forwards this was a match that should have been won. The defensive frailties of the side need addressing.