Closely fought win against Mavericks

Colchester entertained Mavericks at Mill Road and both sides produced a great game of attacking, well contested rugby. Colchester had to up their game from previous weeks to compete with the expansive style of the Mavericks game. Both sides shared six tries in a thrilling encounter; Colchester's one conversion making a crucial difference in the scoring.

Early Maverick's pressure contained play within the Colchester half for the opening quarter of the game before a break from prop James Linscott relieved the pressure. Subsequent good ball retention released second row James Simpson who exploited a gap to race over for the opening score of the match (unconverted). Almost immediately, the Mavericks responded and scored the try of the match. The away backs twice moved the ball across the width of the pitch; eventually creating a gap inside which was well exploited to equalise the score (unconverted). Colchester in turn, utilised their backs effectively and made good breaks from fly half Alex Peterson and winger Josh Harvey. However, the home side had to rely on full back Josh Attwood to make a last ditch tackle to prevent a Maverick's try; the subsequent double movement giving Colchester a relieving penalty. As the half came to a close, winger Harvey showed great pace to race away to score Colchester's second try (again unconverted); the referee bringing the first period to a slightly early close after an unfortunate fracas on the touchline.
Half Time: Colchester 10 Mavericks 5
The standard of rugby continued in the second period as Mavericks continued to play fast running rugby which continuously stretched the Colchester defence. An early close range score by Colchester second row Simpson (converted by fly half Peterson) was the last time that the home side troubled the scoreboard as Mavericks enjoyed much better possession and territory throughout the second half. A line out close to the Colchester line was well defended but some quick ball allowed the away side the space to run in a well worked score in the corner (unconverted). Shortly afterwards, a Colchester dropped ball turned over possession and the Mavericks took full advantage, moving the ball well and recycling effectively to score their third try out wide (unconverted). Colchester winger Jack O'Sullivan produced a great tackle to prevent a further Mavericks score before the away side wasted a two man overlap by taking the ball into contact and knocking on. After showing resilience in defence, Colchester then slowly worked their way upfield with good interchanging between forwards and backs but were unable to breakthrough again. As the game came to a close, the Mavericks backs again showed their talent and almost created a late winning score but the final pass went out of play rather than to hand; and Colchester emerged victorious.
Full Time: Colchester 17 Mavericks 15