A game of two different halves

Colchester A XV were away to Harwich 2’s this weekend, the weather was surprisingly warm and dry for the time of year. The distinct lack of driving wind and rain (the norm for Harwich) made for ideal playing conditions for both sides.

The first half started with some gritty rugby from both teams and a good show of strength from the Harwich pack, which put pressure on Colchester securing good ball for the backs to work with. Strong determination and a hint of over zealousness ended up with Harwich receiving two yellow cards in quick succession. With a weakened pack to go against, Colchester pressured the scrum and after a bout of well controlled rucks finally went over for the first try.

The first half continued with determination from both sides to win the ball, with both teams having a number of successful counter rucks. Set pieces worked well for both teams but Colchester managed to grab another try or two before the half time whistle.
With a number of changes made and injuries to the fly half, number 8 and outside centre Colchester had a lesser structured second half. With Harwich having served their yellow cards they managed to squeeze through two tries, converting one. Harwich managed to increase the pressure on a now slightly disjointed Colchester pack and managed to keep the game focussed in Colchester’s half.
Breaks came from both the forwards and backs to get Colchester closer to the try line, but a tiring team found it difficult to convert the majority of these breaks into points.

With the fly half off the pitch, Colchester’s normal kicking game went out of the window with the scrum half wrapping up and presenting a gift of a kick to Harwich who managed to score a try shortly after.
Colchester managed to re-structure its defence in the last 15 minutes of the game and was able to fight off the Harwich attack. The final score 43-12 to Colchester, leaving them 2nd in the table against Sudbury with a game in hand.

Tries: Jez Castle x2, Guy Colgne-Brookes x1, Bill Smart x1, Martyn Bloomfield x2
Conversion: Dave Calver x5
Penalties: Dave Calver x 1