LONDON 1 NORTH: Colchester 29 Brentwood 10

COLCHESTER sealed their promotion play-off place as London North Division One runners-up with a confident performance at Mill Road.

The Colchester backs threatened throughout, their speed, angles of running and individual skills, enabling the backs to score the four tries to earn the bonus point.

Fly-half Jonathan Crisp scored one try and created another. Centre, Toby Shadavarian linked with Damien Brambley to trouble the Brentwood defence.

Early exchanges saw both teams miss penalties before Colchester began to dominate. Jones broke from a scrum to draw defenders, and the retreating Brentwood defence was pierced by Jona Crisp’s elusive run for the first try.

Colchester pressed again, Crisp retrieving loose ball before breaching the visitors’ line, drawing the last defender before offloading to Dan Whiteman for a try under the posts. Brambley converted both tries.

Colchester kept up the pressure, and a line-out win set up Brambley’s long pass to fullback James Crozier. He joined the line at speed to again break the Brentwood defence before setting Nick Flexman free to run in his first try wide right.

Referee James King sin-binned Colchester’s Ollie Pickett and Brentwood centre Adam Thomas for fisticuffs.

At the start of the second half, the Brentwood pack used their man advantage to drive into the Colchester half where a penalty by Charlie Chambers put Brentwood on the scoreboard.

Colchester responded quickly. Brentwood drove back a Colchester scrum but Carl Jeffs picked up from the retreating scrum before punching a hole through the Brentwood backs. The ball was fed wide where Flexman rounded the Brentwood defence for the fourth bonus point try.

Aided by a series of penalties and a blood injury, a push-over try was touched down by Brentwood flanker John Beith and converted by Chambers.

Colchester recovered, the pack turning a tiring Brentwood scrum to force a hasty pass and rushed clearance kick which was fielded by the well-placed Crozier.

Dummying an inside run, Crozier switched direction and sped past flailing tacklers into the corner for a well-taken try to seal the game.