Ruari Robertson's hat-trick helped Pegasus beat Rayleigh in the Merit Table.

Pegs scored first when a bounce deceived the full-back and Robertson ran in a 60-yard try.

The fly-half then wriggled through for a second following a five-yard scrum on the Rayleigh side to make it 10-0 at the interval.

The Wyverns hit back through scrum-half Craig Stobbs in the second half.

But Robertson wrapped up the game when he pounced on another error to score a converted try.

Stobbs later added a second for Rayleigh.

Billericay were worried about having to play two games at the weekend - but ended up having none.

They had their league clash with Eton Manor on Saturday called off.

And injuries forced them to cancel their Essex Cup game at Old Edwardians, who had a walkover.

Stanford defence starts brightly

STANFORD 19

RAVENS 14

Stanford moved into the second round of the Essex President's Cup at the expense of the team they beat in last year's final.

But they had a real fight on their hands after Ravens soared into a 14-7 advantage in the second half.

A penalty gave Ravens a 3-0 lead, and they made it 8-0 when a Jamie Daisley pass was intercepted and returned down the field.

Daisley made up for his indiscretion when he converted Rob Maher's kick and chase try, but Stanford were in trouble as Ravens tagged on another penalty.

And the outcome looked even bleaker for the champions in the second half when Ravens scored another penalty.

For Stanford lost skipper Richard Elder and Julian Smith to illness and injury and then Dean Finnegan to a sin-binning.

But they clawed their way back through in-form Nicky Maddison's try, once again converted by Daisley, before the latter set up Gavin Scott for the clincher.

Forwards boost Southend

SOUTHEND 12

WOODFORD 5

Southend took a break from their London Three title chase to beat strong opposition in a friendly at Warners Park.

And if all goes well and Southend eventually claim the London Three North-east crown, they will be heartened by this excellent victory over a team from the league above.

Initially, Southend found the pace much faster than they were used to and were indebted to their forward line for keeping them in contention.

However, Woodford opening the scoring when one of the visiting team's speedy backs intercepted a stray Southend pass and bolted home in the corner.

The score remained the same until 15 minutes into the second-half when the Southend forwards set up wing Mike Coxford for the equalising try.

Both sides then had the chance to grab the win, but it was Southend who made the decisive break when it came.

A line-out near the Woodford line led to a vigorous drive by the Southend forwards, who pushed the visitors over the line for captain James Shearing to touch down.

Player-coach Kevin Harman kicked the conversion to seal a hard-earned win for his side.

Westcliff rally for Essex Cup victory...

OLD COOPERIANS 8

WESTCLIFF 12

Westcliff needed to overcome a surprise half-time deficit before moving into the Essex Cup second round.

Old Coopers, the bottom club in Westcliff's division, led 3-0 at the break - despite tremendous pressure from the visitors.

But stern words from the coaching team of Don Faulkner and Alan Myles saw Westcliff come out more determined in the second-half.

And they were rewarded when Mark Wass blasted his way over for a try.

Not long after, outside-half NickSigwart found some space and unloaded a pass to James Evans for a second try. Sigwart added the conversion.

Westcliff continued to press the Coops defence, but it was the home side who scored the next try.

Westcliff then had to repel several strong raids, and Dashiel Allum, Ian Henderson and onone memorable occasion, Mark Wass, all put in vital tackles.

One of the Coop props took the ball and was building up speed until hemet Wass and found himself going backwards.

"If I had to name a man of the match, it would have to be Wassy," said coach Don Faulkner. "He put himselfaround the park and that tackle wassuperb."

ROMFORD & GIDEA PKIII 8

WESTCLIFF LIONS 5

Fourteen-man Westcliff were disappointed to lose this game, played in marine conditions at Gallows Corner.

The visitors were on the attack from the first whistle and pinned Romford back on their own line.

And their pressure paid off when some superb work by the backs, notably Patrick Redding, saw skipper Bruce Gander take the final pass and score.

Westcliff spent most of the first half deep in Romford territory, but the home side escaped for a penalty goal.

More Westcliff pressure proved fruitless and they paid the price when Romford broke out for the winning try.

WESTCLIFF U16 10

BRAINTREE U16 12

Westcliff dominated the first-half, but Braintree came back to within a conversion in a tense finale.

Braintree arrived a hooker short and Neil Wilkes changed allegiance, whileWestcliff's tries came from Kieron Bryan and Paul Radley.

Basildon youngsters match Harlow

HARLOW U13 5

BASILDON U13 5

Both sides deserve praise for playing attractive running rugby as they fought out a draw on a waterlogged pitch in persistent rain.

Basildon's early pressure led to a try by Matthew Reid, but Harlow struck back to level the score and dominated the rest of the first half.

The second half was all Basildon and only good Harlow tackling and the inevitable handling errors stopped the new town youngsters going ahead.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.