Colts defeated in National Cup

Colchester Colts were eventually well beaten by Bishops Stortford in the third round of the National Colts Cup. An encouraging start by the home side was negated by some poor decision making and errors which put Colchester on the back foot from an early stage. The home side competed very well in the scrum against bigger opposition, turning over some good ball; but it was the larger and stronger back line of Stortford that was the difference, constantly running on to the ball at pace and creating many problems for Colchester when in possession.

Despite the majority of the first half being played within Stortford territory, Colchester did not seriously threaten the try line and their mistakes were punished. Turnover ball within the Stortford 22 was picked up and returned with interest for the opening try on 13 minutes and then a missed tackle on halfway soon afterwards gave the opposition the space and opportunity to race in for a second score. Colchester battled hard and enjoyed further possession within the Stortford half but a further error via an intercepted pass gifted the away side a third breakaway score to bring the half time score to 0-21. A number of interchanges at half time gave Colchester some fresh impetus and a yellow card for the Stortford scrum half allowed the home side some brief hope of a recovery. However, much to their credit, Stortford maintained their structure and utilised their forwards to great effect to score a close range try in the corner. Further aggressive work by the away side led to the game being killed off as a contest with the back line taking advantage of an overlap to score in the corner. A Stortford penalty extended the lead before, finally, the home side gained some reward for their endeavours when replacement winger Pri Antonyrajan rounded off a blind side move to dive over for a try. Perhaps fittingly, the final word was had by the away side who, right on full time, scored a further close range score to end the match 5-39.

Fair play and well done to the strong Bishops Stortford side who well deserved their victory on the day. All at Colchester wish them well in the next round.

Colchester coach Sean O'Connor was reflective, saying: "We started well but faded fast. We cannot afford to give tries away at this level and we will be looking at our attacking options and structure going forward."