Basildon 8 Colchester 11
3rd October 2009
A depleted Colchester side travelled to Basildon on Sunday hoping to continue their recent good form. However, Simon Lecomber, damaged his hamstring playing rugby on the Saturday and left the team a man short with a days notice. Eventually a seventh player was recruited and Colchester arrived with a full team and pleased to note that Basildon were not at full strength.
Basildon is a big pool and it was far from ideal not to have any substitutes at hand and in the first quarter Colchester feared the worst as Basildon took an early lead which was soon doubled. But Colchester fought back and it became clear that Duncan Lowe and Ross Johnson would carry on their impressive form from the recent Ipswich victory. Their speed and strength allowed them to create space and it was Lowe who scored the first Colchester goal.
The second quarter saw Basildon mix their team up a little and Colchester saw their chance to attack. Impressive build up play and some neat passing meant Colchester were able to take the lead for the first time in the game. A hat-trick of second quarter goals for Lowe and Johnson helping himself to a brace meant that Colchester stormed into a 6-3 half time lead. However, Craig Snowdon managed to pick up 2 major fouls leaving him one short of exclusion from the game. A reshuffle to the pack saw Snowdon push into attack and Lowe drop back to help marshal the defence.
The third quarter began with a flourish as Colchester scored 3 more goals, 2 more for Johnson and one for Chris Harrington from a tight angle. Colchester were now looking comfortable, until late in the quarter Snowdon was outrageously called for his third major foul excluding him from the rest of the game. Colchester’s defence held on for the rest of the quarter as Lowe and Martin Vinter helped goalkeeper Jimmy Lang keep Basildon at bay.
Colchester went into the final quarter leading 9-4, but knowing they had a quarter to play with a man down. Possession would be the key, as long as they could keep the ball for the final ten minutes the game would be won. Colchester managed an attack as Basildon over pressed as Johnson again broke free. But eventually Basildon began to pick Colchester off with their extra man as Colchester’s lead was diminishing. To make matters worse Lowe followed Snowdon out of the game as frustration, from the Colchester players for certain refereeing decisions, spilled over. Colchester finished the game with just 5 players in the pool, but this did not stop Johnson scoring again as they finished the game with a hard fought win.