Colchester A 35 OBs 15

Letch 2 tries
Cottage 1 try

We would like to thank the Colchester boys, coaches and parents for the warm welcome and hospitality and the referee for a great game for our floodlit Friday game it was a great atmosphere.

We all know that sport is ultimately about winning but all great teams have during their journey had to suffer defeats, but it is how that defeat is incurred and handled that is the sign of a good team. Friday night is one of those examples, that is to take nothing away from a very good Colchester side they had some outstanding players especially on both wings and their scrummaging was excellent.

However our boys deserve huge credit for the way they played, 15 members of the regular team and one new face for a total squad of 16 faced off to the Colchester side. As result many people played out of position but all gave 100% throughout the game. From Walker at Captain who was immense both in defence, ball carrying and rallying his team to new boy Hayers the boys never once gave up as they battled and wrestled to control the game. One of the many things the score line does not show is that OB’s played well over half the game inside the Colchester half or that each of the OB’s tries came from huge team efforts and multiple phases of play. Once again we faced a very good scrummaging side and our scrum half’s and back row worked very hard to secure ball when we were often going backwards. However in open play our mobile pack members worked very hard securing good ball and our fast passing and play was great to see with multiple phases of play. For long periods we did control the game and tested the Colchester defence.

Whether in attack or defence the boys worked together and again communicated well and encouraged each other to keep going and keep pressure on the Colchester side. Sagomba playing his first match at 10 kept the backs moving and put in some testing kicks, and Griffin and Cottage both kept the Colchester defence busy with surging runs, often breaking the first and second tackle. The desire the boys exhibited at the breakdown to win the ball or in the tackle was immense. If anything perhaps at times we were a little too hasty in our line speed which allowed the very powerful and fast Colchester wings the space to get round our defence. Were their lessons to learn, ofcourse there always are. Were the boys disappointed yes they are a team that challenge themselves to win and excel and look to always improve. However everyone of them can be proud of the way they played and the effort they put in on that evening. Mr Letch deserves a special mention for one of the best games I have seen him play this season quite aside from his tries.

It is clear the boys need some training sessions to give them time to reflect on the lessons learnt from the recent tough games, so we can only hope for some clement weather to give us a chance at Wednesday training. This however is a team that continues to develop and challenge itself and more and more is playing intelligent team rugby.