Colchester came up short 34-19 in a bruising encounter at Henley but played some of their best rugby when reduced to 13 men late on, amply demonstrating their refusal to throw in the towel.

Centre Will Blakemore was shown two yellow cards, the second for a high tackle, and lock Charlie Friend was sinbinned late on for the same offence. It was the first time the team had fallen foul of the new tackle height directive and both decisions looked harsh, provoking head-scratching on the sidelines.

While two men down, player-of-the-match Connor O’Reilly galloped over for his second try of the game four minutes from time, and Colchester came agonisingly close to a try bonus point in the closing seconds, only for the ref to award Henley a penalty as they desperately defended their line.

On a drizzly day and a heavy pitch, the opening exchanges were evenly contested if scrappy. Sixth-placed Henley eventually opened the scoring through a penalty and centre Callum Jones’s converted try.

From the restart, Matt Williams – on loan from Cambridge and impressing on debut in the centres with a lively turn of foot – broke to feed O’Reilly who crossed for an excellent try in the corner.

Blakemore went to the bin for not rolling and from the resulting penalty Jamar Richardson scored. The fullback had a second minutes later to give the hosts a 22-5 lead at the break.

O’Reilly went off for a nasty blood injury early in the second half, only to return with a Gregory Porter style head wrap, demonstrating the never-say-die spirit of the team.

Blakemore, back from the bin, started and finished a lovely second try for Colchester on 48 minutes, Gabe Jones’s conversion pulling it back to 22-12.
A remarkable run from half-way by hooker Spencer Hayhow clinched Henley’s bonus point.

A last-gasp lunge by replacement Sean Bundy, back at Colchester and making his first team debut after a long injury lay-off, denied the hosts a further try, but with Blakemore shown a second yellow card to end his match, Hayhow crossed for his second and Henley’s fifth.

All the Colchester replacements saw action as the physios were kept busy.
Colchester’s unhappy day appeared complete when Friend was binned for a marginally high tackle, but from a free kick at a scrum the ball went through the hands for O’Reilly to score, Jones adding the conversion.

“The guys showed great fight in a tough game,” said head coach Mike Haywood, who conceded the team would be working both on set-piece accuracy and reducing tackle height.

“It’s a tough one to take because we’re working so hard to put ourselves into positions to win games, we just haven’t got that clinical edge yet.

“We go down to 13 men and we score. I know the guys have the ability to do it, it’s about getting it on the pitch from the start, not waiting till the 50th minute to play our game.”

With Colchester now bottom of Nat 2 East, Saturday’s match at home to Oxford Harlequins (3pm) takes on huge significance. Colchester badly need to beat third-bottom Quins, who are 14 points better off.

“It’s a big one for us,” said Haywood. “It’s an opportunity we’re going to relish.”