Chelmsford U14s took the first of several scheduled trips to Southend this season, which proved to be another close match on a sunny but unsurprisingly windy "airport pitch".

Coming out of the blocks, the Chelmsford boys dominated the opening ten minutes putting on three converted tries in quick fashion to move ahead 21-0. Unfortunately, this was a weekend where we seemed to peak too soon, and a combination of a well organised Southend team and a drop in focus and energy from our boys allowed Southend back into the game five minutes later. Playing some patient, phased rugby, Southend made continued steady progress towards the Chelmsford line and managed to hit back with a well-earned try. The Chelmsford team continued to sit back too much, getting ragged in defence. Despite the new tackle laws, we seemed more determined to try and rip the ball upright and got pushed back too often at the breakdown as a result – nevertheless, we managed to turnover the ball and counter attack frequently enough to reset the territory and keep the scoreline in our favour, going into halftime five tries to two up. Despite the windy conditions, all conversions were duly taken by the respective kickers.

Chelmsford went into the match with only one sub, and the lower intensity could be partly attributable to some tired legs, but ultimately after the break, the second half began how the first ended, with our defensive lines becoming less disciplined and attacks lacking in the support needed to provide the ball retention and continuity to relieve the pressure. Conceding two early tries in the second half, it did feel like the south-coast tides had turned, but the Chelmsford boys continued to fight and through some opportunist breaks, including some long carries by our number8 and 10, we managed to keep responding with tries of our own. As a result of these counter punches, and near 100% conversions by our 10, the early lead was never eroded to less than two scores. All credit to the Chelmsford boys for hanging in there, and also to our final try scorer who had been supporting almost every breakaway and got his just rewards with a last-play try.

In a match that finished 8 tries to 6 in our favour, the coaches and players felt the performance highlighted plenty of areas to work on - in particular, focus is needed on lower tackles and contesting rucks with closer support for tacklers and ball-carriers. That said, with only 16 players travelling, it was great to get the result and especially to finish without any additional injuries.