London One North Colchester 107 Saffron Walden 7 Colchester ran up the highest score by any team in the league this season with a crushing win over Saffron Walden.
A strong pack with ‘The Pickett Line’ of Liam, Ollie and Harrison gave Walden all sorts of problems in both tight and loose. With Brett Cutbush back at No 9 and the welcome return of David Higgins to fly half, new running and kicking options quickly unpicked a resolute but ultimately overwhelmed Walden defence.
No 8 Harrison Pickett was first over the line with a good pick and drive from a push-over scrum.
Left wing Dave Brennan was next with a strong run and touch down which James Crozier converted well. David Higgins set up the third with a perfect inside pass to Ollie Pickett to score under the posts. Another switch move saw No 7 Dan Whiteman score his first and Colchester’s fourth.
Saffron put their only points on the board when Colchester’s defence bought an outrageous dummy which enabled their fly half to score under the posts. The conversion brought the score to 26-7 at the end of the first quarter.
The remainder of the half saw Colchester re-establish dominance and a rejuvenated Whiteman use exquisite lines of running to bring up his hat-trick. Crozier converted to bring the score to 40-7 at the interval.
Spectators braving an icy wind weren’t sure if Colchester could maintain pace and momentum in the second half but when Cutbush went over in the first move of the half things looked very ominous indeed for Saffron Walden.
Higgins used neat footwork to score next to take the home team past 50 points.
Next, Ollie Pickett scored two more for his hat-trick, and Higgins grabbed a pair. Centre George Liversidge intercepted to score again then quick hands from centre Jona Crisp and fast feet from wing Joe Flexman saw a touchdown in the right corner.
Hooker Rhys Hartley drove over to provide one for the forwards before backs Matt Wadling and Dave Brennan moved the score past the 100 points. Man-of-the-match Whiteman fittingly ended the rout with his fourth try and the dropkick conversion which ended matters at 107-7.
Confident Colchester now face second-place Brentwood away this week, followed by the visit of top-placed Chingford the following week.
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