Thurrock suffer defeat to Colchester

Thurrock suffered a further setback at the hands of Colchester, who inflicted defeat at dank and dark Mill Lane on Saturday. Thurrock had the better of the opening moments but Colchester soon took advantage of Thurrock old problem of giving away needless penalties. Thurrock soon found themselves on the back foot and scrum half Cutbush went through a big gap to score close to the posts, Withers converted for the home side to lead 7-0.

Thurrock got back in the game almost immediately when from the restart Colchester gave away a penalty which Jake Barrand gratefully accepted the chance and it was 7-3. Lady luck was on Thurrock’s side as Colchester spurned at least three try scoring opportunities and apart from a Withers penalty before half time Thurrock could have been well out of the game due to their poor first half performance. It seemed at times that the Thurrock players failed to believe in their own ability and seemed to lack confidence.

Some minor changes at the break see Thurrock come out with a more competitive edge and Colchester could not gain any momentum as Thurrock kept camped in the Colchester half, Ben Timson returning in the back row after missing three matches looked back to his best, and made many hard earned yards in his quest for to get Thurrock back into the game.

But with 13 minutes remaining and Thurrock in the ascendency Colchester got lucky their winger Flexman was at least 6 metres offside when intercepting a pass that Thurrock may have scored from and ran 80 metres to score an unconverted try. It broke Thurrock’s hearts and despite a valiant effort in the closing stages it was not to be. It is still much a learning curve for the younger players and one which will stand them in good stead for next season. Although with four matches remaining it would be good for Thurrock to get back into winning ways when they entertain Old Colfeians at Oakfield on Saturday, kick off is 3.00pm