Sat 15 Oct 2022
Colchester 2s 49-28 Norwich Union 15-Oct-2022
Union made the long trip down the A140 to take on Colchester 2s, despite the long journey Union started well spending the early stages camped in the opposition half, with Craig Dunbar making inroads.
It wasn’t long before this pressure resulted in a score, with Ben Bond-Webster starting in his usual place at the back of the driving maul from a lineout 15m out, steering the Union pack to the line before scoring. Lloyd Davis collected the extra points to take an early lead of 0-7.
It wasn’t until the start of the second quarter that Colchester responded with a try of their own after their forwards made headway in midfield, sucking in defenders allowing their 9 to spin the ball wide out on the right flank, which allowed them to score an unconverted try to take the score to 5-7 on 22mins.
Colchester then took the lead on the half hour, a break down the left flank and some deft interplay between their backs allowing them to bypass the Union defences, the Colchester 9 diving over in the corner to score an unconverted try to take the lead 10-7.
The hosts stretched this lead to 15-7 within three minutes as they quickly spun the ball from a lineout in their own half, the speed of execution out flanking the Union defences to score a third unconverted try.
Union rallied as the half time whistle approached, but despite spending the remainder of the half camped in the Colchester half, they were unable to turn this pressure into points, so the half time score stood at 15-7.
Colchester scored their fourth and bonus point try 7 minutes into the second half, punishing a turnover in midfield as Union pressed, their 8 making a break before offloading to his 9 who scored his second try of the afternoon, which was converted stretching the led to 22-7.
Colchester scored again straight from the kick off as a loose pass from Union found it’s way into the hands of a Colchester player who sprinted to the line to score an unconverted try taking the score to 29-7 with 48mins on the clock.
With the game starting to slip away from them Union began to apply the pressure in the forwards and indeed at the thirds attempt at a 5m scrum shoved the opposition pack over the line, Davis diving on the ball to score a try to which he added the extras, taking the score to 29-14.
Colchester wiped this out with a try of their own after they charge up the middle again sucking in defenders before spinning the ball wide and scoring another unconverted try. To take the lead to 34-14.
The hosts further extended this lead with their backs using a wrap around move in their backs to create the extra man scoring in the corner, to take the score to 39-14.
Union were however not finished and a quick tap from a penalty 15m out allowed them to set up a driving maul, veteran Johnny Short steered this to the line to score, Davis again adding the extras to take the score to 39-21.
Union added a further try, with Short bagging a brace and a try bonus point as Union deployed their driving maul, this time from a lineout on the 5m line, Davis making it a perfect 4 conversions from 4 attempts. To narrow the score to 39-28.
Colchester despite having a player sent off for a punch in a melee following the Short try, were still able to press forward and scored from a quick tap following a free kick at a scrum near the Union line, the Colchester 9 who had been a handful all game tapping and feeding the right wing who dived over to score in effect killing the game of and any hope of a losing bonus point, taking the score to 44-28.
With the clock running down and only two minutes of play left, Union were now chasing the game, a speculative kick by outside centre Ryan Day was snatched away from him as he tried to re-gather, the Colchester player then broke from behind his own try line making it to well into the Union half before offloading to a supporting player who ran in to score taking them to 49-28.
The referee blew the whistle following the conversion attempt to take the final score to 49-28, meaning Union had to settle for a single try bonus point for their efforts.
Union’s next game next weekend is at home to Woodbridge, kick off is at 3pm and the match will be preceded by an Old Boys lunch, anyone wishing to addend this should contact Steve Eastman ASAP.
Team: Martyn Webb, Ben Bond-Webster, Simon Pitcher, Jon Spicker, Jordan Read, Matt Cook, Matt Spenceley, Craig Dunbar, Lloyd Davis, Luke Hill, Graham Hunt, Nick Trataris, Ryan Day, Matt O’Brien, Alex Sinclair Replacements: Johnny Short, Matt McLaughlin, Ben Scott
Scorers: Ben Bond-Webster 1T, Lloyd Davis 1T 4C from 4 attempts, Johnny Short 2T
Whalebone man of the match: Luke Hill
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