DANNY Cleare bagged a brace of tries to help Rochford Hundred triumph on his return to Southend Saxons on Saturday.

Cleare scored two of Rochford’s eight tries in a 50-17 London One North win at Warners Bridge.

And Cleare felt Rochford’s fast start proved key in front of a bumper crowd.

“We came out of the blocks really sharp, played from deep and scored some great early tries,” said Cleare.

“We felt we took the game away from Southend straight away but, to their credit, they made a game of it in the second half.

“They kept the ball well, made it difficult for us and played the better rugby in all honesty.”

But, by then, Rochford were in control after racing into a 24-0 lead inside the opening half an hour.

Ricki Gould, Mark Billings and Sonny Gay all touched down for table-topping Hundred along with Cleare’s double before the break.

And, with Cameron Greenhall adding two conversions, Rochford led 31-7 at half-time.

Rochford winger Norbetas Radzevicius scored twice after the break while Billings also bagged his second try of the game.

But Cleare - who had been at Southend for 10 years before returning to Rochford - found it weird lining up for the away team at Warners Bridge.

“The strangest part was walking into the changing rooms and then going right rather then left and warming up on the other half of the pitch but in all honesty as soon as you kick-off it’s just another game of rugby,” said Cleare, who has scored four tries in two games this term.

“I feel great at the minute and it’s nice to be back scoring tries.

“I’ve got to get that try record off Billings too!”

Southend fought hard and scored three tries of their own with Sam Hampson, Tom Ramsey and Chris Vaughan all touching down.

But Saxons skipper Ian Morrison was left ruing his side’s slow start to the match.

“The game was a lesson for us about starting from the off and maintaining the right standard for 80 minutes,” said Morrison.

“We clearly came up against a very strong Rochford team and you can’t afford to give teams of that standard a start like we did.

“There are positives to take from the performance though.

“We managed three tries which at times required multiple phases and we maintained our discipline throughout.

“There is no need to frame our season around individual games.

“We can accept as a squad we need to be better and we are confident as a squad we will improve along with gaining the results which we all know we are capable of.”

Southend Saxons: Ramsey, Yeomans, Banks, Vaughan, Hampson, Hoult, Branch, Armitage, Grier, Campbell-Webster, McClintock, Newton, Wood, Morrison, Wagstaff

Replacements: Sheils, O’Kill & Stalley

Rochford Hundred: Billings, Radzevicius, Ikifa, Gay, Cleare, Greenhall, Gould, Strachan, Ferrier, Guess, Court-Rhind, Fombo, Kellard, Hudson, Shields

Replacements: Brunger, Douglas & Jay