Colchester Colts work hard to defeat Holt

After their previous heavy loss to Woodbridge in the Eastern Counties Cup, Colchester put in a much improved and better structured display to earn themselves a well deserved but hard fought victory against their willing and spirited opponents from Holt.

Played in very soft conditions, the home side adapted well to the conditions and scored three tries in a competitive first half, whilst restricting their opponents to one converted penalty chance. Prop James Linscott showed surprising speed to run in from inside his own half, prop Troy Palmer drove over from close range, and number 8 Farouk Wingfield rounded off a Colchester maul to extend the lead.
Half Time: Colchester 17 Holt 3

The second half opened up somewhat with both sides sharing six tries in an entertaining period of play. After sharing tries just after half time, Colchester extended their lead when winger Josh Harvey took advantage of some quick hands from the back of a ruck, only for Holt to quickly reduce the arrears with a well structured try after the forwards had worked through the phases. Further Holt pressure was unfortunate not to yield further reward, but after a terrific turnover from second row Henry Williams close to his own posts allowed the backs to work the ball out wide, Harvey raced away and side stepped the full back on his way to scoring under the posts. The away side completed the scoring in the corner after Colchester were penalised for a high tackle just before full time.
Full Time: Colchester 36 Holt 22

Coach Steve Wright was delighted with the result, saying: "Every player performed very well and played for each other; demonstrating the "One Team" mentality that we have tried to instil into the whole squad since the beginning of the season. Holt gave us a very good game and we had to be at our organised best to achieve the result".