The Blacks are benefitting from being able to field the same strong team for the third week in a row without injuries disrupting their consistent winning ways. This result moves them up one place to third in the league, leapfrogging Amersham & Chiltern who lost at home.

Colchester opened the scoring straight from their kick off when the charging forwards turned over the ball and the backs moved it swiftly right for wing Dave Brennan to score in the corner. From the restart, the Blacks pressed forward again and earned a scrum ten metres from the hosts’ try line. The back row of Danny Whiteman, Harrison and Ollie Pickett drove into the home halfbacks for the latter to claim his first try. Wing James Crozier converted putting the visitors 12-0 ahead after only ten minutes.

The youthful Letchworth side competed well for the next ten minutes but could not breach the Black defence, only gaining territory from the effective kicking of their fly-half and fullback. As the game progressed Colchester began to dominate the set pieces and also make effective use of their pick and go tactic in the loose.

Eventually, they gained a penalty and scrum-half Brett Cutbush quickly tapped the ball and fed Ollie Pickett whose strength and direct running took him over the line for the second time. The Black backs soon joined in the scoring when good interplay by centre Jona Crisp and Crozier put the wing over in the corner bringing the score to 22-0.

Flanker Joe Beckett replaced the limping Harrison Pickett in the back row and went on to play an effective disruptive role around the base of the scrum. Before long the ball was moved to Joe Flexman in the centre who cut through for a fine converted try.

Just before halftime, a number of infringements by the now desperate Letchworth defence lead to the referee awarding Colchester a penalty try making the score at the interval 36-0. Rhys Hartley replaced Charlie Thorogood at hooker as Letchworth kicked off the second half. Colchester continued to dominate the game and soon good running by dynamic prop Joe McMillan put the Black’s close to Letchworth’s try line. The ball was moved to the backs and Flexman claimed his second try bringing the score to 43-0.

Substitute scrum-half Matt Wadling replaced Cutbush and before long broke at pace from behind a successful scum to feed Flexman who claimed his hat-trick. Likewise, Ollie Pickett claimed his hat-trick soon after as, in the final quarter, his brother Liam scored, then fullback Brown and finally Brennan who shot up the right wing for his second and the final try in this dominant display by Colchester.

Steve Whiteman