Colchester secured a thrilling 40-43 victory at Old Deer Park, the iconic home of London Welsh, to maintain their outstanding start to the National League rugby season.

Trailing 21-5 at half time, Colchester ran in five tries in a breathless, bonkers second half to leave the score level at 40 points apiece with a minute to play.

Awarded a penalty in front of the posts, the nerveless Benjy Mills made no mistake. But that wasn’t the end of the drama.

From the restart, Welsh went up field and looked certain to score, but a knock-on inches from the line sparked delirium amongst the visiting contingent on and off the pitch.

It was a fitting climax to a rollercoaster match, brilliant entertainment for the big crowd.

“At 21-5 down, we could have rolled over,” said head coach Mike Haywood. “We stuck at it and took our opportunities. I’m just really pleased for the lads, they dug deep.”

Playing against the wind, Colchester started well. A fine break by Findlay Gilmour freed Matt Wagstaff who galloped to the line, only for the ball to be knocked out of his hand.

With Welsh down to 14 players for collapsing a maul, Fin McCartney scored from a lineout drive, but the remainder of the half belonged to the hosts, who ran in three converted tries.

Trailing by 16 points and reduced to 14 players with Ashton Webb in the bin, Colchester needed to regroup at half time. And how they responded.

Three minutes into the second half, Harry Bureau stretched out to score after a patient build-up, Mills adding the conversion.

The fly-half then sent a pin-point kick-pass into the left corner, where wing Ethan Cole leapt high to gather and score.

Colchester went ahead for the first time on 53 minutes, Welsh’s open side deliberately batting the ball dead to prevent a certain score and the referee awarded a penalty try.

Both sides were soon down to 14 players, as Jack Daly saw yellow, and the hosts regained the lead through their impressive former Exeter Chiefs centre Max Bodily. But Colchester weren’t to be denied.

From Mills’s 50/22 and a quickly taken line-out, the ball come to replacement prop Lewis Jeffery, whose exuberant finish saw Colchester retake the lead. And minutes later the visitors seemed to have the game won.

Good work by Ted Reid and Joe Collier started the move deep inside Colchester’s 22. The spring-healed Wagstaff did the rest, Mills’s conversion making it 28-40.

But this crazy, exhilarating match still had more to give. Two further tries brought London Welsh level, setting the stage for that extraordinary finish.

All 20 players put in a terrific shift on a memorable day for Colchester Rugby Club, but it was Wagstaff who was named player-of-the-match for a terrific all-round performance in scrum and open play.

“What it shows is that Colchester aren’t here just to roll over,” said Haywood. “We want to stay in National Rugby, and you can see the fight from the boys. They’re hungry for it.

“We’re playing teams that last time we were in National 2 would beat us. That’s the best thing from my point of view. The guys are sticking at it and doing a fantastic job.”

Colchester’s second win from three matches puts them fifth in National 2 East ahead of Saturday’s home match against second-placed Guernsey (kick-off 2pm).

With league campaigns for the 2s and 3s starting next week, both were involved in warm-up games on Saturday. The Ravens lost 45-59 to Harlow while the As went down 26-32 to Mistley.