In our latest round-up of local rugby action, there are great wins for Southwold, Ipswich and Woodbridge.
London One North
COLCHESTER lost their unbeaten record in a thrilling top-of-the-table clash with Rochford, falling to a 27-10 defeat.
A large crowd at Mill Road was treated to 80 minutes of superb rugby, but Colchester just couldn’t match superior skills of the semi-professional the visitors.
They were 12-0 at the break, and though Charlie Thorogood gave them hope with a converted try to pull his team within five, followed by a David Higgins penalty to make it 12-10, Rochford pulled away for victory.
Elsewhere SUDBURY lost 24-20 at home to Amersham & Chiltern. They led early through a Matt Griffith penalty and a Matt Johnston try, before Amersham struck back with a try of their own.
They took the lead with another try, only for Sudbury to cross again just before the break.
Jonny Taylor added another score for Sudbury, but Amersham won the game with a try and three penalties in the second stanza.
London Two North East
SOUTHWOLD enjoyed a fine 52-10 win over Wanstead, scorching to an early 10-0 lead through a Jonny Utting penalty and Ollie Carlstroem converted try.
That set the tone for the match, with Wold getting further scores from Duncan Hume (two), Josh Wallis, Utting, Jacob English and Jobe Brooks.
Suffolk rivals STOWMARKET were beaten 29-21 by Romford & Gidea Park. A James Simpson try saw Stow pull level after Romford’s early score, but the visitors pulled away to lead 19-7 at the break through a pair of tries gifted to them by sloppy handling.
Stow roared back in the second half, pulling back to trail 22-21 with a pair of converted tries from Dotun Askenas and Matt Edison, but Romford finished the stronger and added another try to secure victory.
IPSWICH, meanwhile, won an absolute cracker with Saffron Walden at Humber Doucy Lane, prevailing 41-33 to hand the visitors their first loss of the season.
A hat-trick of tries from Tim Mann in the first half an hour saw Ipswich lead 21-7, and when giant centre Chris Kolapo-Ajala scored early in the second half to make it 28-12, it seemed victory was secure.
Far from it though, as Walden roared back to lead 33-28. Ipswich were not finished however, and a Mann drop goal, another try for Kolapo-Ajala and a score for Jermaine Watson with the last play of the game secured a superb win.
London Three Eastern Counties
WOODBRIDGE showed their skills on the way to a third-straight win, beating Wisbech 30-14.
The Warriors were 11-0 up at the break through a James porter try and a pair of Angus Clogg penalties, while Tony Moseley made it 16-0 shortly after the restart.
Clogg was next to cross the try line, chasing down a reverse kick and scoring to make it 23-0.
Maxx Hudson got a try back for Wisbech, but Thomas Ives soon got the Warriors back in the tries, making it 30-7 and securing a first binus point win of the season for Woodbridge. Clogg notched 15 points in all for the winning Warriors.
London Three Essex
CHELMSFORD continuued their fine start to the season with a 32-28 win in a table-topping clash with Epping and Upper Clapton.
The game could have gone either way, with Chelmsford trailing until the last two minutes and down by 14 points at one stage.
Epping led 14-13 at the break, with Chelmsford fighting back from 14-0 through a Nick Crouch try and two Scott James penalties.
Marcus Pottinger scored a brace for Chelmsford in the second half, while Joel Young grabbed the match-winning try in the dying minutes.
Rivals BRAINTREE, meanwhile, slipped to a 26-23 home defeat to the Kings Cross Steelers.
Eastern Counties One
HADLEIGH stayed unbeaten at the top of the league with a 22-3 win over the Ipswich Magpies.
Ipswich took the lead with a penalty, but flanker Lewis Jeffries put Hadleigh ahead to stay with a try after an outrageous dummy had fooled the whole Ipswich team.
Merlin Lawrence added a brace - including an 80-metre kick chase – while Oli Sellers completed the scoring for Hadleigh, who have conceded just 21 points in their first seven games.
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