In their final competitive game of the season, Colchester Under 16's rounded off their Youth Rugby journey with a hard earned win over local rivals Bury St Edmunds to lift the Suffolk Cup. It was a fitting conclusion for the entire age group who have, in many cases for more than a decade, represented their club with a great deal of integrity and immense pride.

Colchester went into the game against Bury St Edmunds knowing that even a losing bonus point would guarantee them the 2023 Suffolk Cup, but the spirit and intensity in the youngsters' faces told a different story - their defensive determination showed that they were focused on nothing other than a win.

The opening exchanges were predictably cautious, but crucially, the Colchester boys managed to gain somewhat of an upper hand in terms of the penalty count, especially in the shape of scrum penalties where the visitors pretty much dominated for the entire game. Colchester fly half Henry Newman put in a flawless display, kicking accurately off the deck and out of hand and he used these penalties to consistently hit his marks, but the Bury front jumper gave the Colchester line out a really 'tough day at the office' constantly disrupting the visitors line out and neutralising several attacking opportunities.

Predictably, the opening try came in the tenth minute from an unforced error - a midfield interception by the Bury inside centre who pounced on a flighted pass that just evaded the intended recipient. This breakaway try came against the run of play but it showed the Colchester boys that given time and space that dangerous Bury backline would ruthlessly capitalise on any mistakes. The try was converted as Bury took the lead 7-0.

What followed was ten minutes of resolute defence from both sides. Colchester had opportunities to strike back, particularly on the back of hard-fought scrum penalties, but the resultant line outs near the Bury tryline came to nothing thanks to a well orchestrated Bury line out defence. However, persistence paid off and in the 20th minute the stuttering Colchester lineout came good as they set up a powerful driving maul that was finished off down the blindside by Colchester flanker Nathan Hallworth. Despite the angle and distance, Henry Newman slotted what would ultimately prove to be a crucial conversion in far from ideal conditions to tie the scores at 7 - 7.

The game then seemed to swing the visitors way as the Bury restart went a little awry and into the waiting hands of William Roberts who evaded three tackles before cutting infield to score under the posts. Henry Newman added the conversion as Colchester took the lead 7 -14.

What followed was a furious response from the highly skilled Bury backline, they moved the ball effortlessly through the hands in wave after wave of attacks, but the Colchester defence was resolute; loose forwards Toby Howell, Aidan De Silva and skipper Tom Sharman were particularly impressive as they kept the Bury attack at bay and went into the half time break with a narrow, but hard earned, 7 - 14 lead.

The opening encounters of the second half were dominated by the home side as they launched wave after wave of flowing attacks. The Bury back three came more into the game and even when Colchester managed to clear their lines with deep, searching kicks, the Bury backline ran the ball straight back into Colchester territory. Despite several minutes of high pressing defence, Colchester's resistance finally broke as the Bury winger broke down the blindside, evading a series of tackles to score in the corner, reducing the deficit to 12 - 14.

The Bury fightback was on and with the Colchester line out misfiring in a good position the ball spilled to the back where it was plucked from the void by the Bury back row who quickly fed their backline to score under the posts and take the lead 17 -14. The home side were now in the ascendancy and added to their lead with a successful conversion, going into the closing few minutes 19 - 14 ahead.

Although visibly stunned by the brace of Bury tries, Colchester upped the intensity and once again found the upper hand through the scrum and their hard-working front row. The pressure forced a Bury handling error and following yet another scrum penalty, Max Frost found himself on the end of a deft off-load to score one for the front row, crashing over the white line and through a crowd of Bury defenders to level the score 19 - 19. Once again, the conductor of the orchestra Henry Newman, knowing the potential significance of the extra points, stepped up to calmly dissect the posts with a pinpoint conversion, nudging Colchester back in front 19 - 21, setting up a grandstand finish!

Bury would not lie down and turned up the heat on Colchester, but in the final seconds relief came for Colchester as Bury, pushing hard to close the deficit, conceded a penalty. Henry Newman sensibly chose to call for the kicking tee in order to try and close the game out with an extraordinarily challenging kick at the very limit of a kickable range. The kick was on the right line, but fell just inches short into the arms of the Bury full back. The Bury back line reacted quickly, but in an attempt to release their blindside winger and catch Colchester on the back foot, the ball ricocheted through the hands and into touch. Game over, final score Bury St Edmunds 19 Colchester 21.

Matchday Squad: Harrison Caie, Max Frost, Adam Smith, Charlie Wilmott, James Bunting, Toby Howell, Nathan Hallworth, Aidan De Silva, Errol Pearson, Henry Newman, Bleu Carvell, Harvey Whybrow, William Roberts, William Moxon, Alfie Thompson, Oscar Spence, Joel Steel, Marcus Jensen, Tom Sharman, Joe Summerscales