London 1 North League
Fullerians put up a spirited performance but in the end they succumbed to second in the league Colchester. Fullers started very well indeed and with a number of enforced changes due to availability and injury didn’t put off this young team.
Colchester did score eventually but it wasn’t until the 20th minute that they crossed the white wash. Fullers immediately responded with a try after a great interception by No8 Miles Finnegan who ran 35m to outpace the covering defence and score in the corner. Fly half Dan Evans kicked from the corner and was unlucky as his attempt hit the upright.
With the score at 5-7 Colchester were rattled by a dogged performance by Fullers. This seemed to frustrate them and they conceded penalty after penalty where Fullers were able to clear their lines. It wasn’t until the closing stages of the half when a lucky bounce, which is always the way when you are second in the league, saw the Colchester winger take the ball and score under the posts.
In the second half Fullers had the wind behind them and continued to frustrate their visitors. Fullers scored a lovely try as the ball was shipped wide to stretch the covering defence and flanker George Harvey was on hand to score in the corner for a 10-14 score line and all to play for.
However, the Fullers scrum did not have its dominance it has had over the season and began to creak. Colchester are not second in the league for no reason and began to show their dominance in the last 15-20 minutes.
This brave Fullers did not give up and kept putting their heart and soul into the performance but Colchester were able to pull away in the end for a deserved win.
“We started very well and upset Colchester who assumed they were going to have an easy game. We were right in there for 60 minutes but Colchester had the quality in depth and you could argue the score flattered them but I was proud of the guys for all their effort and commitment they put into the game.” commented Fullerians Head Coach Rich Hoskins.
Team. Barson, N. Mann, Byrne (Macdougall 40), Boyd, Kerr, Scully, Scully (Sonner 5), Harvey, Finnegan, Matchett, D. Evans, Williams, Dollard, Smith, Woodham (D. Toon 55), Mann.
Man of the Match: George Harvey