COLCHESTER Rugby Club’s win at Letchworth last weekend set a performance benchmark, but it isn’t a standard they can be content to just match when North Walsham travel to Mill Road today.

Instead, Colchester’s head coach Danny Johnston wants them to use the impressive display that moved them up to fourth in the London League division one north as a starting point to build on for even better shows in coming weeks.

And Johnston is asking them to start that against the visitors from Norfolk.

“It was a good performance last week, but the pressure is on now to keep it going,” he said.

“We are still looking for improvement and looking to grow as a group.

“The emphasis has to be on what we do now.

“I see this performance as a benchmark, but not one where we need to be, but one where we need to set off from.

“This is the basecamp as we set off up the mountain and I’m now looking for the next step forward.

“Our progress can’t be about winning games in this league, but about winning games in the league above.

“We need to be preparing now for playing in the leagues above and this is the first step towards that.

“I don’t know how this performance would see us fare in the national leagues, but I’d like to think it would see us do well.

“The strong decision-making that we showed would only help us in the league above and we have to be able to reproduce that in every game.”

Braintree will be looking for an improved performance following their London League division two north east 51-15 mauling at the hands of Chelmsford last week.

They travel to South Woodham Ferrers who recently beat Chelmsford Chairman of selectors Jeff Lewis said: “It’s really important that we bounce back from this defeat and play like we did in the first two games of the season.”

Harwich and Dovercourt skipper Joe Francis wants his side to show their true colours when they entertain Ipswich YM.

He was left deflated after last week’s 55-13 Eastern Counties League division one setback at home to Swaffham.

However, Francis is confident his players can bounce back – and says they will need no extra motivation against their Suffolk rivals.

“It’s our biggest derby,” he said. “Ipswich haven’t started well and neither have we, so it’s all to play for.

“We need to bounce back and this is the perfect platform.

“We need to show our true colours and decide what we’re all about.”

Divison rivals Mersea Island will be looking to continue their two-match winning run when they entertain Swaffham at Mersea Outdoors.