CHARLIE Owens scored a hat-trick of tries to help Rochford Hundred beat Hertford 47-40.

The victory saw Rochford go second in the Regional One South East standings.

And Owens - who started the clash on the wing - was delighted to play a prominent part on his return from an ankle injury.

“It was massive for me personally,” said Owens.

“With a good depth of talented players, to get myself three tries in my first game back from injury was definitely a highlight of my season already.”

But Owens felt the victory was far from straightforward.

“Saturday’s game was a tough test and they had some strong runners,” said Owens.

“It was a great shift from the boys though with some of the players playing out of position because of injuries.

“But we executed some of our open play moves well which helped us get the win.”

Sonny Gay and Seth Mokuolu both scored two tries for Rochford in the win.

And Owens is keen to keep things moving in the right direction as Hundred look to mount a push for promotion.

“The season so far has overall been quite complicated,” said Owens.

“We know there are some strong teams in the league, but we also know we are fighting for promotion. So to start the season well with all the injuries we have is a reflection of how much effort the lads put in.”

And the 21-year-old is relishing his role in proceedings having first joined the club five years ago.

“I joined Rochford at 16 years old playing for the academy,” said Owens.

“I made my debut for the first team. It was a massive jump physically and to be honest I was out of my depth.

“But since then I went to university in Cardiff where I gained around 25 kg. To then join back up properly this season has been really fun so far and I’m looking forward to the rest of the season.”

And Owens wants to keep performance levels high.

“My hopes for the team is that we perform the way we can week in and week out,” said Owens.

“I can see personally how hard we train especially with the lack of numbers due to injuries.

“We work close by to the academy boys who are very talented and I hope some of them can gain some first team experience soon. Personally, I hope to fill in where the coaches need me and hope I can do the boys proud.”