Westcliff RFC 20 Colchester 1st XV 21

This was a must win game for both teams in the lower half of National Three and it was Colchester who edged the result by the narrowest of margins.

Colchester looked the bigger and fitter side and it augured well for the set piece when they won the first scrum against the head allowing a sharp kick from Brett Cutbush to apply pressure in the bottom left corner. This was rewarded in the fifth minute with a penalty by fly half David Higgins.

The restart was completely missed by Colchester allowing Westcliff to immediately respond and despite stubborn defence they eventually squeezed over to score wide right. The conversion was missed so the home team enjoyed a 5-3 lead after ten minutes.

It was a lead they were unlikely to hold on to as Colchester again dominated all the set piece play. Props Mitchell and McMillan were rock solid in the scrum and lineouts were dominated by Lee Soper who - head and shoulders above everyone else both physically and metaphorically – won priceless clean ball from the accurate throwing of Charlie Thorogood.

Pressure was turned into points when a good break and superb off-load by poster-boy centre Tom Miller saw left wing James Crozier glide through to score near the posts. Higgins converted to give Colchester a 5-10 lead at the end of the first quarter. It was end-to-end stuff though and Westcliff ran through broken Colchester defence within five minutes to tie the scores.

Colchester pulled ahead again with a Higgins penalty and deserved the lead at the interval but a slow clearance was charged down by Westcliff for a converted try giving the home team a surprising 17-13 lead at the break.

After five minutes of second half Colchester were awarded a penalty in the Westcliff 22 which scrum half Cutbush took quickly and scampered under several defenders to score in the left corner. The conversion was missed giving Colchester back the lead at just 17-18. A yellow card for Ollie White may have given Westcliff some optimism but fierce defending and wrong options allowed Colchester to hang on to their slender lead.

It was perhaps inevitable to the Colchester supporters that Westcliff would be awarded a penalty and so it was to give them a two point lead at 20-18 with just 14 minutes to go. But Colchester are learning and with fresh legs from Jerone Awesu and the return of the peerless Soper the forwards turned the screw against tiring opposition.

Relentless driving by the forwards with Whiteman and Picketts to the fore yielded a penalty under the posts which Higgins duly converted to give Colchester a one point lead. It was one they weren’t prepared to forgo and, unlike earlier fixtures, successfully wound down the clock to hold on to a well-deserved victory.

In a game where the lead changed hands no less than nine times, Colchester are learning to win these very close engagements. With more work – especially on closing down in defence and maintaining possession in attack – they can go on to win games by bigger margins which will be much appreciated by their nerve-shredded supporters!