There was a good crowd at Mill Road this weekend to see our comprehensive victory over Ruislip. Ruislip are not a team to be taken lightly, but our lads put in a good all-around performance, ran in nine tries and went some way to extinguish the memories of the rather unpleasant day trip to Ruislip earlier in the season.

Leading the charge was Harrison Pickett. Harrison bagged a brace of tries and carried the ball with determination and aggression. It was a powerhouse display from our No.8 and it earned him the Man of the Match award. Particularly in the opening 30 minutes, Harrison was absolutely dominant; he was a real force with the ball in hand and on a number of occasions it took three defenders to stop him in his tracks. His ability to take restarts at pace and put pressure back on the opposition was disconcerting for the visitors and on a number of occasions, you could almost see them wince as they braced themselves for contact. It was, by a considerable margin, his best performance of the season. The back row has generally been full of tries this season with Olly Pickett standing as our leading try scorer, closely followed by Dan Whiteman.

Our forwards dominated the Ruislip pack and our backs were clearly more threatening with the ball than their opponents. They were a yard quicker than their opposite numbers and it was clear that from 1-15 our boys had a score to settle. Charlie Thorogood and Joe Colcomb made a number of timely interventions in open play and were responsible for more than their fair share of turnovers; this meant Ruislip couldn't maintain sufficient pressure in order to create regular opportunities and were forced to rely on little more than improvised chances. Despite the fact that there were relatively few set pieces over the course of the game, our scrum and lineout were secure. Furthermore, Liam Pickett managed to steal some of the Ruislip line out ball and generally disrupt their service; an aspect of their game that appeared to be one of their strengths when we faced them earlier in the season. In fact, it is hard to believe that this is the same team that caused our boys so many problems back in October.

Brett Cutbush did a good job of controlling the tempo of play and used the platform created by our forwards to drive the back line and exploit the space created by the aggression of our ball carriers. Outside centre Jona Crisp put in another impressive display; his ability to step through defences at pace was a constant threat and his first-half try was a fitting reward for his consistent performances since his return to Colchester. Jona has also added to our defence - he's put in some excellent tackles and he communicates and enforces the defensive strategy the coaches have implemented very effectively. The backs, as a unit, began to realise their potential this week; their pace worried Ruislip and James Crozier, in particular, looked extremely dangerous when he was given even a small amount of space - the Ruislip defence were often forced to 'double defend' him. I can imagine that life as a back is difficult; you're constantly under scrutiny, you're expected to take every chance that comes your way and you have a gang of big blokes chasing you trying to bring you down! Very few chances went begging this week and errors were few and far between. The boys are working extremely hard and they can feel proud of their performance.

The referee Richard Haughton deserves praise for the way in which he managed the game. Whilst he exerted control, his whistle was seldom used and by employing common sense he kept the game flowing - this resulted in a relatively low penalty count and it meant that the players, rather than his decisions, influenced the outcome of the game. Incompetent refereeing can spoil the game for the players and spectators alike, but on this occasion both sides benefitted from a very capable and sensible referee whose focus was facilitating the game, not dominating it.

Elsewhere in the world of rugby, it looks like local rivals Southend Saxons could be heading for London 1 next season. In National 3 (now entitled South East Premier) they are 15 points short of safety with seven games remaining. Below us, the London 2 promotion race is dominated by Rochford Hundred who are 12 points clear of their nearest rivals. Interestingly, it is no secret that Rochford have made a decision to employ contracted players this season. Their current points tally of 80 reflects their perfect season - 16 games and 16 bonus point wins. It is interesting to see the growth of the 'semi-professional' game and whether in the long term the Rochford model is sustainable.

Away from Mill Road, the A XV visited Cottenham Renegades for the first round of phase two league games. It was a great effort from our boys who made the road trip to North Cambridgeshire, but difficult conditions and a smaller than usual pitch didn't suit our style of running rugby. Man of the match was James Pearce who started the game in the second row but finished it in the centres. Proud skipper Jack Buxton said that our boys gave 100% and by all accounts the scrummage and set pieces were some of the best of the season. The A XV have a week off but return to action on 17th February when they travel to Norwich Union for round two of phase two.

Finally this weekend our Colts recorded a superb win at Saffron Walden in the Eastern Counties Cup. Like so many games at this point in the season, it was played in less than ideal conditions on a 'mud bath' pitch, but our boys recorded a 19-12 win. Man of the match was loose forward Jack Harvey who was responsible for a number of crucial turnovers and timely interventions.

This coming weekend our 1st XV have a free Saturday (10th February), but the Ravens are back in action, travelling to Westcombe Park for a friendly game (1.00pm kick-off). The Cavaliers have an away game at Bury St Edmunds and the Roundheads will host Ipswich 3's at Mill Road. Don't forget that the Six Nations are underway and you can watch all the action in the comfort of our clubhouse with plenty of refreshments on tap!