They were dealt an early blow when they attacked from the first whistle and drove deep into the Rochford half, but an intercepted pass on the 22 allowed the home side a clear run of 80 metres to score after one and a half minutes of play.

Sudbury came straight back and Rochford looked edgy in their own red zone, giving away a penalty and allowing Mathew Wooderson to reduce the deficit to four points.

Rochford's second score came from a lineout when they won their own ball and, with two phases of play, shipped it wide to the opposite wing to go over in the corner for a second converted try.

Sudbury kept pressing and from a penalty lineout Lee Cooper crossed the line only to be refused the try by the referee ruling he had dropped the ball. Not to be denied Sudbury took the five-metre scrum against the head and Barney Goodchild scampered over from close range.

Sudbury maintained the pressure right up to half time with another good scrum which set Guillaume Botha free, only for him to be pushed into touch on the line.

Sudbury had fared better in the set pieces but had not performed as well in the loose, and in the second half Rochford exploited this.

The referee also decided he would take a bigger role in the second period which did not help the cause and after eight minutes Rochford extended their lead.

Sudbury replied immediately from a lineout. The forwards drove, and after three phases, Toby Goodwin saw a gap and dropped off the back of the maul to score.

Midway through the half Rochford got their final converted try with a drive up the middle of the park to score under the posts. Sudbury did not give up and mounted several more attacks but were unable to penetrate Rochford's defence.

Rochford were the better side on the day and Sudbury must be reasonably pleased with the performance. Saturday sees a home game against Braintree, with the same referee, so hopefully Sudbury should avoid too many early penalties.