At one point all five senior men's teams had games on Saturday, but unfortunately, Thurston were forced to postpone their visit of our Roundheads, but all other senior sides managed to take to the field.

1st XV vs Old Priorians
Due to a number of sudden injuries and last minute (but unavoidable) withdrawals, preparation for the 1st XV game at Old Priorians was pretty much turned upside down, so much so that it was impossible for me to get a preview drafted because the side kept changing by the hour! However, the squad responded magnificently. Jordan Milburn, Dan Hexley and Rory Miller were drawn into the 1st XV squad to replace the sick and wounded and they all made solid contributions to the emphatic win at sixth placed Old Priorians. Priorians (aka The Twisters) have some excellent players, notably Conor Dolan who was capped by England as a schoolboy and has played most of his career in the upper echelons of the National leagues, so to win in such convincing fashion was no mean feat. When they had the ball, Priorians were dangerous and almost every scoring opportunity they created came through the efforts of the impressive inside centre Conor Dolan, but the Priorians forwards just could not compete with the structure and organisation of our game. In fairness to Priorians they made every effort to play a running, expansive game.

In terms of selection, George Liversidge started in the second row in place of the injured Alex Burman, and Tom Dufficy switched from the centre to open side flanker and despite the fact that this was a late change forced by the late withdrawal of Dan Whiteman through illness, it turned out to be an extraordinarily astute decision. Dufficy's work rate and tackle count was literally off the scale, and his performance earned him the @Twenty5 Man of the Match award. The position isn't new to Dufficy, he spent a great deal of his early rugby days in the back row, but since returning from University he has primarily played in the midfield. There were other stand out performances. Dan Brennan, who in my opinion is having the season of his life, caused Priorians all sorts of problems both with his scrummaging and tenacious running. James Mitchell also played a major part in the win; a series of powerhouse first half carries put us in the Priorians 'red zone' and three of these big carries led directly to tries and left a number of the OP forwards seeing stars!

The late withdrawals led to some shuffling in the back division. Matt Wadling stepped into the full back to enable Harry Barton to switch to the wing and, in turn, these changes freed up Damien Brambley to slot in at centre alongside Kevin Tavainavesi. Again, bringing Wadling into full-back turned out to be another excellent decision. He may not be the biggest, but Matt Wadling is as tough as the proverbial coffin nail, and on a number of occasions he carried the ball through the Priorians with incredible tenacity and he was extremely unfortunate to miss out on a first half try - slipping just before he was able to touch down after a typically opportunistic break. Tries came at regular intervals throughout the game and just twenty five minutes into the game our boys registered their fourth try and with it they made sure of at least one bonus point. Stand-in skipper Brock Price led the way with three tries, James Crozier bagged two and Kevin Tavainavesi, Damien Brambley, Harry Barton, James Mitchell and Jordan Milburn scored a try apiece. Dan Hexley, Rory Miller and Jordan Milburn all came off the bench to see action in the second half, and all three made solid contributions - at no point did the changes lead to a loss in momentum as we rammed home our advantage with a series a late tries as we broke the 50+ points barrier away from home for the first time this season. It was a ruthless display against a very capable side who have only lost two games at home this season. The stage is now set for the visit of North Walsham Vikings this weekend. It's a crucial game and a win is non-negotiable.

Elsewhere in the London North 1
Elsewhere in London North 1 the pecking order remains largely unchanged. Rochford and North Walsham both recorded emphatic home wins over Fullerians and Ruislip respectively and to me it's abundantly clear that sides in the bottom half of the table are putting far more effort into their home games and fielding weakened teams away from home. I do not think that this is a conscious decision on their part, it is simply a reflection of the fact that struggling teams are finding increasingly difficult to get their lads to travel if, in their mind, they have little to play for other than pride.

Ravens vs Westcliff
Despite the late loss of three key players due to 1st XV call up's, the Ravens recorded a superb 30-14 win over Westcliff. Once again, the Ravens were superbly marshalled by the midfield maestro Adam Cook; his organisation and game management is second to none and his leadership inspires all around him. Sam Lines had another excellent game at open side; his tackle count and work rate was superb and despite rallying in the second half, Westcliff just couldn't sustain a foothold on the game. It was a tremendous win for the Ravens and achieved under difficult circumstances due to the 1st XV changes. The win moves the Ravens into third place in the Essex Merit table, within touching distance of second place Thurrock and nine points behind the league leaders Brentwood.

A XV vs Sudbury
The A's visit to Sudbury was the last game of the 'scheduled' fixture card for the 18/19 season. At the conclusion of these final round games, Eastern Counties committee members will put together a second phase of competition made up of sides from the distant regions of Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire. Sides such as Beccles, Newmarket, North Walsham and Norwich come into the mix and it can make for some very testing and competitive rugby. The A's have put together an excellent run this season, but their run of wins came to a halt against the Sudbury Talbots in a 34 - 17 loss. Up until this game their only defeats (2) came at the hands of the league leaders Hadleigh who, it has to be said, have had an outstanding season, sweeping aside almost all their opponents and it is only our A's that really challenged their superiority. The A's have put together some excellent performances this season and it is important to acknowledge the hard work and dedication that the senior players committee, namely Dave Lawrence, Jack Buxton, Gary Palmer, Mark Harman and Byron Adams have put into the club this season in order to drive and maintain the progress the A XV and Cavaliers have made in recent years. Thank you, the club very much appreciates your work.

Roundheads vs Clacton
The Roundheads skipper, Bart Wilkinson reported on their clash with Clacton 2's at Mill Road: "The corresponding fixture at Clacton resulted in a home win for our opponents, so it was a guaranteed to be a tight physical game. Clacton were bolstered by several 1st team players who’d had their game called off. The Roundheads had a good squad of 21 players, with five of the Cavaliers; this injected some mobility and youth into the side, significantly lowering the average age! Unfortunately for our boys Clacton took more control of the game with referee decisions going their way and they strolled to a very convincing lead by half time. With the wind at their backs at the turn around, Colchester finally managed to put points on the board, but so did our opponents. Despite the forwards starting to impose themselves it still didn’t turn the result. On a day where we had 2 sets of fathers/sons and age ranges between 71 and 17 it was a victory for the game of rugby and a 64 - 19 win for Clacton. The Roundheads, wearing white shirts for the first time (which fitted perfectly) show that at the heart of a big club there is still space for a social competitive rugby side. You can watch rugby, you can talk rugby, you can coach rugby, you can read rugby, however nothing beats playing. We are a long time retired and don’t realise how good it is till we don’t do it any more." Thanks to Bart for his support, hard work and dedication to our club.

Senior Player of the Month
Please don forget - we present a Senior Player Award at the end of each month. Winners so far include such luminaries are Will Tillett, Ben Bates and Gary Palmer. If you would like to nominate a player from the Ravens, A's, Cavaliers or Roundheads please email me your nomination with a brief explanation for your choice.