Colchester Colts defeat Saffron Walden

A mixed Colchester side took on Saffron Walden Colts at Mill Road and played out a hard fought but entertaining game against spirited opposition. The match was played with uncontested scrums throughout but this did not detract the teams from serving up a good display of rugby. Unfortunately, the game was marred by a shoulder injury to Colchester centre Matt Hexley who will be out of action for the next couple of weeks. Both sides wish Matt a speedy recovery.

Saffron Walden were the first team to score, taking an early 7-0 lead. Colchester responded with a try from second row Rory Miller (missed conversion) and then again with a close range effort from returning prop Luke Beattie who put in an encouraging display after being absent through injury (missed conversion). Full back James Pattis extended Colchester's lead with a third home unconverted score before Saffron Walden responded with a penalty to make it 15-10. As the game progressed, Colchester's confidence increased and the home side were rewarded with tries from prop Michael Everitt (converted by fly half Rhys Smith) and second row James Rolfe after some great offloading work by his colleagues (try converted). To their credit Saffron Walden maintained their level of effort and scored the last try of the game to bring the final score to 29-15.

Lead coach Steve Wright was pleased with the display, saying: "This was a good show today by the players.The lads who were away will need to step up in light of some very encouraging performances seen today. We have our next Cup game in a couple of weeks and this game has given us some positives to reflect on as we prepare going forward."