COLCHESTER RUFC coach Anthony O’Riordan is maintaining his side’s focus as they return to action after the Christmas break.

Colchester are sitting pretty at the top of London League division one north with a six-point lead.

They finished off 2014 with a 36-12 win against Brentwood and with second-placed Eton Manor’s game at Woodford postponed, Colchester have opened up some breathing space at the top.

Today they head to struggling Ipswich, who sit second from bottom in the table.

But the opposition is not what O’Riordan and his coaching staff are focusing on.

O’Riordan said: “What we are doing now is concentrating on our game.

“We are not concerned with Eton Manor and I don’t mean that in an arrogant way.

“There is nothing we can do about their postponements.

“Those games won’t get played to the end of the season and so we can’t worry about them.

“We are acknowledging their position but focusing on our game and continuing to do what we are doing.

“We had a great result against Brentwood before the Christmas break.

“The boys played above and beyond what we expected going into Christmas.”

And Colchester are not letting up on their challenge for the title as they head into the new year.

O’Riordan added: “We have trained on Tuesday and we had 40 players taking part.

“We also trained on Friday, having a light run through before today’s game.

“The lads are still up for the challenge and are not easing off.”

Looking ahead to today’s game at Humber Doucy Lane, O’Riordan knows it is up to Colchester to continue their momentum.

He said: “We are not taking anything for granted against Ipswich.

“We will not be getting complacent, we are taking the firsts and seconds to Ipswich tomorrow and we had both full teams out training on Tuesday.

“We want to start the new year in the way we have been going so far.

“It’s nice to be at the top of the table but we are taking it a game at a time.

“We have a tough run afterwards with Luton coming up and then Letchworth Garden City.

“There is still such a long way to go. We are only halfway through the season and any team can trip you up.

“We won’t be taking our foot of the gas and I am confident that the players will be prepared and ready for the rest of the season.

“We also have a couple of younger players that are coming through into the first team squad as well.”

In Eastern Counties division two south, leaders Colchester seconds are also at Ipswich, taking on their fifth-placed seconds.