Congratulations to the brave 9 who travelled to Essex on Sunday in miserable weather. After a nightmare journey in spray and driving rain, 8 girls found the Rochford clubhouse, cunningly hidden in several fields in the heart of Essex, seemingly miles from civilisation. The Rochford team were very friendly however, and lent us 2 players, Bon and Amy, so that we could play 11 aside, 5 forwards and 6 backs.
The long journey and miserable weather manifested itself in the normal sluggish start however, and we were very soon on the back foot, with Rochfords expansive game opening up space on the outside with almost every play.

Rochford were superior in every facet of the game, and halftime arrived with Beckenham facing a score of 39-0. The second half showed a slight improvement, with Abigail and Rae combining to pick up some hard earned yards, but overall we just werent competitive enough, fit enough, or slick enough. Still, we have plenty to work on as they say, and Kirsty was voted our player of the match by the Rochford coaching staff for her gutsy and brave running at much bigger opposition.

It was noticeable how much bigger the Rochford girls were, and most of them appeared to be at the upper end of the age band, with 2 of them celebrating their 18th birthday the night before! As most of our squad have just come up from the U-15s, there is time for the girls to get stronger and faster, in thought as well as deed. One positive is that the girls played to the end, and the heads didnt go down. We'll give them a much better game when they come to play us. Special thanks to Amy who tackled her heart out on our behalf.