COLCHESTER Rugby Club fought back from 12 points down half an hour into the match against Sidcup, scoring 34 unanswered points to get back to winning ways after two narrow defeats, writes EDWARD MARRIAGE.
For the sixth match running Colchester picked up a try bonus point taking their tally to a very creditable 28 tries in that period.
On a cold but still day, Adam Thomas and Jacob Bodkin returned in the centres but Jimmy Mpailane and Ed Parry were out injured while Connor O’Reilly and Sai Vunivesilevu were unavailable. Liam and Harrison Pickett returned in the forwards.
Strangely off-the-boil in the opening period thanks to handling errors and missed tackles, Colchester found themselves trailing 12-0 as flankers Liam Healey and Zak Jones crossed for tries, Sidcup belying their lowly league position.
It took half an hour for Colchester to get going, prop James Mitchell scoring from a line-out drive.
But 12-5 behind at the interval, this was the poorest half of rugby the Blacks had produced for some weeks.
From the start Sidcup targeted Ross Taylor with high balls, most of which the full-back fielded with ease.
From one such kick Taylor received lengthy treatment after being taken out in the air by wing Luke Sheridan who saw yellow as a result.
Colchester gradually found their mojo. Chris Lewis, who had a good day off the tee, reduced the arrears with a penalty then converted James Mitchell’s second try.
Picking up the ball from a scrum, Mitchell thundered through his scattering opponents, but still had 30 metres to make the try line.
It was a further demonstration of why Mitchell was right to reverse his premature retirement at the end of last season, his pair of tries and efficient scrummaging earning him the man-of-the-match award from sponsors Matthew Douglas Ltd.
With Joe McMillan, Cam Kerr and Corey Button on for Alex Mitchell, Danny Whiteman and Matt Mellish, Colchester turned the screw.
Harrison Pickett collected Button’s nicely-judged kick to score in the corner, Lewis converting from the touchline, and Colchester had their fourth moments later, Button touching down from a maul.
A well-timed pass by Button released Taylor for the fifth try, a deserved score for the full-back who had a fine game, sharing the coach’s man-of-the-match award with Button and Harrison Pickett.
“A bit of a shambles” was how head coach Craig Burrows described the first half.
He said: “We were trying to do things we hadn’t worked on. The second half we came back, we stuck to our game plan.
“Rugby is a lot simpler if you do what you’ve been working on in training.
“In attack we’ve got so much to offer. Defensively I feel we’ve been falling off tackles.
“It’s a little problem that’s easy to sort out. In the next week we’ll be looking at that.”
The emphatic win keeps Colchester fifth in Regional 1 South East with a trip to Bedford Athletic – a place below them in the league - on Saturday.
The Ravens lost 34-12 at league leaders Wisbech while Colchester’s thirds beat Thurston seconds, 41-17.
Colchester: Taylor, Rokomoce, Bodkin, Thomas, Liversidge, Lewis, Mellish; J Mitchell, Butler, A Mitchell, L Pickett, Easton (c), Read, Whiteman, H Pickett. Reps: McMillan, Kerr, Button.
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