The latest reports and results from the region’s rugby sides – including Colchester, Diss, Southwold, Ipswich, Chelmsford and Braintree.
London 1 North
COLCHESTER continued their fine start to the season with a 37-17 win at newly promoted SUDBURY.
After Sudbury took an early 3-0 lead, Danny Whiteman scored Colchester’s first try,
Later skipper Liam Pickett stole the ball from a Sudbury line-out and it was moved first left then right before Elliot Castle crashed over the line to make it 15-3.
Sudbury got the ball to their backs and with good handling attacked down the slope for their outside centre to claim a converted try.
But Matt Wadling soon crossed for Colchester and more pressure saw James Mitchell also touching down for a 29-10 lead at the break.
Another try, this time from Ollie Pickett, and a penalty from James Crozier, completed the scoring for Colchester, while Sudbury added another score to end the game.
Elsewhere, DISS were crushed 51-12 in their local derby with North Walsham, Jon Trede and Nick Garnham scoring the tries for Diss.
London 2 North East
Newly promoted Suffolk rivals SOUTHWOLD and STOWMARKET met in their opening game at the higher level, with Southwold prevailing in some style, 51-10.
Stow started by putting Wold under serious pressure but couldn’t capitalise, and Southwold led 6-3 after half an hour.
Utting then scored Wold’s first try, before Stow went over in the corner to mkae it 13-10. A Wade penalty made it 16-10 at the break.
The second half was to be a completely different affair and Wold simply blew away the opposition as the pack dominated and the backs took full advantage of the increased possession in what was a blistering display of organised rugby .
Three minutes in Duruk went over for a great try under the posts and ten minutes later Wallis jinked his way through the Stow defence and over for another great try.
Wade converted both and the score moved to 30-10 as the game entered the final quarter.
Stow had no answer to Wold’s total rugby and more tries followed. Smith bullied his way over after a series of forward drives and then Duruk got his second after following up his own grubber kick and gathering the ball up again to score for 44-10.
Wold were not finished as they continued to move the ball well and their last try with a couple of minutes to go was one of their best as Starks sprinted fully 40 metres in support of a great move to score. Milo Caukwell was named man of the match, who travel to Norwich this weekend.
Meanwhile, IPSWICH started their season with a fine 22-8 win on the road at Cantabrigians.
Winger Jermaine Watson opened the Ipswich account after 18 minutes - the first time he received the ball in space. Executing a superb finish, combining crisp footwork and excellent acceleration he left his opposite number clutching at straws as he scored in the corner after a period of sustained Ipswich pressure.
An Alan Barker penalty and a Cantabs reply made it 8-3 at the break. Fastnedge then crossed in the second half to level the score at 8-8.
But Ipswich went back at the home side, launching wave after wave of runners at the Cantabs’ line. From a scrum, Cris Blom picked up and crashed over from 5 metres. An easy conversion from Barker and Ipswich had a deserved lead at 15-8.
The superior fitness of the Ipswich side was now a major factor but still the Cantabs defence held firm until 79 minutes when Chris Kolapo-Ajala collected the ball on half-way and blasted his way up field to score and secure the win.
London 3 Essex
New BRAINTREE head coach Jamie Clarke celebrated his first competitive game in charge with a win as the black and ambers began the new London 3 Essex season in style with a 37-7 win at Millwall.
Joe Young (two), Keelan Joslin, Glenn Whyatt, Dominic Dann and Jeremy Stanhope scored the tries for Braintree, who travel to local rivals Chelmsford this week.
And CHELMSFORD started their season in style too, under new head coach Kevin Clackmore, with a 42-20 win over Maldon.
Nicolas Crouch (two), Ed Wild, Paul Redford, Tom Day and Job Fisher scored the tries for the Bluebirds, for whom Jordan Ayling hit all six conversions.
Women
CHELMSFORD Ladies were defeated 54-7 at West Norfolk, captain Mini Nowlan scoring their only try, converted by Karly Harrington.
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