In cold but sunny weather Colchester RFC 1st team had a close encounter with Hertford which was not expected seeing that the Blacks are top of Premier South East and Hertford are bottom.

Both teams scored 6 tries apiece but the Sponsors man of the match fly half Henry Newman converted all but one of the tries whereas the visiting fullback Louis Kendrick was only successful with 3.

Hertford were very adept at Catch & Drive from lineouts close to the Black tryline with their hooker Steffan Jones notching up no less than 5 such tries.

After a disappointing first half display when Colchester turned round down 14 to 24 Head coach Mikey Haywood made plain to his players that they must stick to their plan and shape and not give away so many penalties. This lead to a much improved display after the interval.

Hertford kicked off and were soon awarded a penalty by the referee. Kicked to touch in the hosts’ red zone and piled over for a try after a lineout c atch & drive movement. Kendrick converted making the score 0-7.

After the restart Colchester replied when fullback Louis Martin sped up the pitch,
passed to supporting flanker Danny Whiteman for a fine converted try which levelled the score 7-7.

Before long Jones had his 2nd try from a catch & drive lineout although Kendrick failed to convert it.

From the restart good work by No.8 Ted Reid making good ground lead to Martin speeding over to touch down putting the Blacks in the lead 14-12.

Back came Hertford to gain a try by inside centre Thomas Lamb putting the visitors back in the lead 14-17. Both sides now competed very hard to gain the initiative but once again Hertford increased their lead to 14-24 just before halftime with Jones getting his hatrick.

Haydn Sykes the Black No 5 picked up a yellow card too which didn’t help the home mood.

Substitutes used in the first half were Bundy for Gerard, Francois Rossouw for prop Alex Pybus and Ed Parry for Ethan Cole.

A quick try by winger Jonah Verela buoyed the mood among the large crowd of home supporters a minute into the 2nd half but dismay ensued when Herford’s Jones scored again. 19-31 with the visitors looking strong in attack.

Later No.8 Sean Bundy scored two brilliant long range tries to put Colchester in the lead much to the delight of the home supporters. Heretford weren’t lying down and put in a lot of high kicks. One such kick was well fielded by Parry who turned defence into attack. This eventually lead to the Blacks earning a scrum in the visitors’ red zone from which Reid scored an excellent converted try. 40-31 with 5 minutes to go.

Hertford had the last word in this thrilling match with hooker Jones ending a fine forwards display with his 5th try.

The referee blew for the end of the game with Colchester still unbeaten this season and looking forward to next week’s clash against forth placed Southend.

MOM McCartney, Sponsorsed by The Crown at Lexden:

Sponsors Award by the CRFC Patrons H. Newman