Mersea 5 | 20 Colchester

From one try down our boys in red dominated to come back and win four tries to one, writes Stevie Vass.

Having been starved of rugby for the last 14-months, the D-Squad were tested early by a Mersea team that were clearly up for the tie. Some big tackles flew in during the first quarter, with Colchester struggling to find their feet in the early stages. Excellent cover defence from fullback Sam Slaven kept Colchester in contention with his numerous try-saving tackles preventing Mersea from breaching the visitor’s line. Finally, after a good piece of play, Mersea broke through and scored down their right flank.

This early dominance from the home team proved unsustainable however as the second quarter saw Colchester grow into the game. The boys in red finally found their cutting edge as forward Matt Barber bundled it over under the posts, having capitalised on the relentless pressure from Colchester. Half time came and the scores were tied at 5-5.

This break in play also saw changes on the wings with Stevie Vass replacing debutant Joe Herbert on the left, and Nick Bolton swapping in for Alex Harvey on the right. Throughout this third quarter, Colchester’s broke regularly down the left with one such effort resulting in a try for ex-colt Harry Pemberton. Now on the front foot, Jack Buxton chipped an audacious kick over the top on the wing with Vass just falling short of touching down before the ball bounced into the dead ball area.

Scrumhalf Sam Wilkinson – sniping around the fringes all day – extended Colchester’s lead when he powered over close to the line. And then shortly after, man-of-the-match Patrick Pretorius compounded Merseas misery with a blistering run down the left flank to score. Four tries in the bag and Colchester could look to a job well done.

Credit must go to the opposition as Colchester by no means had it easy against a spirited Mersea squad. Having lost a man to the bin for 10 minutes, the home side had to dig deep under constant Colchester pressure and soaked up an often-relentless Colchester attack. After their successful display, Development Squad Captain Pete Bartholomew had this to say…

“After a slow start in the first twenty minutes, we did all the basics really well and our defence was solid. Everyone fronted up making their tackles in the second half and our fitness told. We played some really good heads-up rugby in broken play and scored as a result. Our structure was good and we made good efforts to put the moves we’ve been practising in training into effect, even if they didn’t always come off. The commitment was great from all involved and I hope you all enjoyed it because I certainly did.”

The team would also like to offer its congratulations to our ex-colts debutants Joe Herbert, Harry and Jack Pemberton, and Sam Wilkinson. It's great to see our youngsters coming through into senior rugby.