Colchester's Colts narrowly defeat Diss

Colchester just emerged victorious in their latest Eastern Counties Cup fixture against Diss in a game that was terrific advertisement for competitive Colts rugby. With the away side enjoying much better territory throughout the game, Colchester had to demonstrate robust defence on a number of occasions to prevent Diss scoring more points. Earlier in the season, this was a game that Colchester could easily have lost, but to their credit, the home side defended resolutely against strong opposition and took their attacking opportunities well; using their speedy backline to great effect when given the chance. Diss were very organised and structured in their play but just came up short on the day. A great game of rugby that was a credit to both sides.

Diss started the game the stronger and immediately set the pattern for the game by controlling possession and spending lots of time within the Colchester 22. The away side turned down a kickable penalty chance and were unable to create a clear cut opportunity when close to the Colchester line. The home side's strong defence was rewarded when ball turnover allowed centre Owen Cowley to break from close to his own line and find fly half Alex Peterson on half way. Showing great pace Peterson evaded the covering defence to score a great long range score (conversion missed) very much against the run of play. Undeterred Diss maintained their game plan and crashed over for an equalising try soon afterwards following a line-out and driving maul. Ongoing Diss pressure continued to keep Colchester pinned back within their own half, but the home side regained the lead with the try of the game shortly before half time. Showing quick thinking, scrum half Jamie Murray tapped a 22 drop out and the ball was quickly worked to winger Josh Harvey who used his electric pace to race away from well inside his own half; evading four chasing defenders on his way to the line (missed conversion).
Half Time: Colchester 10 Diss 5

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first with Diss having more ball possession and spending more than their fair share of time within Colchester territory. A driving maul in the corner soon brought the Diss forwards another reward and a try to equalise the score. Further Diss pressure followed but a fine line break from Colchester's Lewis Williams allowed winger Harvey some space to kick ahead; he being very unfortunate to lose contact with the ball just before the try line. Colchester then took advantage of a Diss indiscretion to kick (just..!!) a penalty from in front of the posts to retake the lead before (perhaps crucially) the Diss kicker missed a slightly more difficult penalty chance. The away side continued to press forward, but again, with the backs showing electric pace, fly half Peterson broke away to release his team mate Harvey to run into the corner to seal the game with a few minutes left.
Full Time: Colchester 18 Diss 10

Colt's coach Steve Wright was both impressed and satisfied with the performance, saying: "A great team effort. Our defence at times was exemplary showing that you can win games with what you do without the ball as much what you do when in possession. Our structure when defending was outstanding; giving us the attacking platform that our backline took advantage of".