Colchester Colts progress to Eastern Counties Cup Final

Colchester Colts put in a much improved display to defeat Bury in a competitive and hard fought semi-final encounter at Mill Road. With the home line-out much more effective than in previous games and with the scrum working well against a bigger pack, Colchester enjoyed the better territory and possession throughout the match. Playing some expansive rugby at times, combined with controlled ball possession, allowed the home side to create more opportunities than their opponents; the resulting scoreline probably a fair reflection of proceedings.

Being penalised for being offside at the kick-off handed the early initiative to Bury who took advantage of the early possession to move the ball forward. After only a few minutes, the lively Bury fly-half side stepped and raced through a large gap in the Colchester defence to open the scoring. However, for most of the first half from this point onwards, Colchester had control of the game and soon scored a try of their own when back-row Matt Hexley dived over in the corner after some quick hands and fine running rugby gave him the chance. Unfortunately, he was injured in the process of scoring and Colchester hope it is not too serious. Soon afterwards, lively scrum-half Jamie Murray was blocked after kicking through; fly-half Rhys Smith converting the penalty chance. Purposeful Colchester forward work then led to perhaps the try of the game; exceptional hands from the back line created an overlap and winger Chowa Chanda took advantage to extend the home lead. Bury tried hard to reduce the deficit and threatened the home line after Colchester infringements, but solid defence achieved the required turnovers and further Colchester possession allowed Chanda the space to run in his second try just on half time.
Half Time: Colchester 20 Bury 7
The entertaining rugby continued in the second period with centre Will Blakemore weaving his way to the Bury line from half way. No-one in the Colchester dugout could quite figure out how he managed to do it, but the score further encouraged the home side and Chanda was released again to achieve his hat-trick shortly afterwards. To their credit, Bury remained competitive and continued to remain in the game. A missed Colchester tackle allowed the away back line to touch down in the corner; the try being very well converted. Colchester responded with the hard working Niclas Woodhead breaking forward to create space for Smith to burst through and release Murray to touch down under the posts with about 15 minutes to go. From this point on, Colchester appeared to lose intensity and allowed Bury back into the game. Two tries in quick succession for the away side gave the home side a last nervy 6-7 minutes to deal with, but the referee's whistle came at last to end the contest.
Full Time: Colchester 39 Bury 28

Colchester Colts Manager Paul Mills was pleased with the home side's display, saying: "This was a much better performance with some strong positives demonstrated in a fine team display. Credit to the players but also greatly to the coaching team who have worked very hard to develop the players and give them the opportunity of competing in the final. Congratulations to the whole Colts set-up who I'm sure are all looking forward to the final in a few weeks time."