Colchester Romans RUGBY LEAGUE

COLCHESTER ROMANS 42 BROADSTAIRS BULLDOGS 42
Saturday 11 June 

Colchester Romans seemed to be dead and buried in their game against table-topping Broadstairs Bulldogs, but the young side staged a thrilling recovery to earn a 42-42 draw.  The Bulldogs kicked off, but a mistake by Colchester let the visitors launch an early attack and with just a minute on the clock they had scored in the corner.  Colchester restarted and this time it was Broadstairs who knocked on in front of their posts, and the Romans pressed home the advantage through a try by Jez Castle.  Colchester caught the ball from the kick off and tried to concentrate on completing their set of six, but the Bulldogs tackling was the most solid they had come across so far and the Romans found it difficult to make significant inroads.  The ball was ripped from the Romans grasp by one of the big Broadstairs forwards, and after a couple of powerful runs the Kent side had scored again.

Colchester remained under pressure, and a mistake near their own try line handed the ball to the Bulldogs for their third try, and then it was the turn of Broadstairs' diminutive but lively Australian scrum half to scoot under the posts for the game's fifth try in the opening 15 minutes, Broadstairs taking a 20-4 lead.

The Romans at last began to string  some phases of play together, and although Broadstairs big forwards still attacked they were looking a little tired and the Romans found them easier to stop.  As their confidence grew Colchester spent more time in the Bulldogs half and came close to scoring on two or three occasions, but the visitors defence was excellent.  Colchester kept going and eventually they were rewarded with a try for Elliott Castle, then in the last minute of the half Colchester had a penalty ten meters out which was taken on by debutant Graeme Hay before passing to Elliott to score again, Dail Tanner's conversion closing the gap to 20-14 at the break.

The Romans had fought their way back into the game, and they had high hopes of continuing their recovery in the second half, but these were dashed within a minute of the restart when the Bulldogs prop broke a tackle and ran in a try from 70 meters, outstripping the Colchester players.  A minute later Broadstairs' winger broke downfield, and after some excellent support play the scrum half touched down under the posts.  The Bulldogs were rampant and scored two more tries in the next ten minutes leaving Colchester 42-14 down and seemingly with nowhere to go.

With 20 minutes left to play Colchester put on all their substitutes so they could have a run although the cause appeared to be lost, but straight away Hay broke through the Broadstairs defence and passed to Elliott Castle who touched down for his hat trick.  Four minutes later Colchester were on the attack again, Mark Braidwood scoring in the corner.  Broadstairs kicked off straight to wing Max Cochrane, playing his first game of rugby league, who managed to run right through the Bulldogs team without a single player laying a finger on him.  Gooch's conversion made the score 42-28 with 14 minutes left, and with the Broadstairs players visibly tiring the Romans began to believe that they could salvage something from the game.

Broadstairs played for time delaying the kick off for as long as possible, but Colchester were not to be outdone with Braidwood again finding a gap for his second try, and the Romans were ten points behind with eight minutes to go.  Again the Bulldogs took their time, but they were punished when Hay broke through some tired tackles and scored in the right hand corner, leaving the Romans six points adrift with just five minutes to go.  The Bulldogs kicked off again and with a final effort they tackled with more conviction, making Colchester fight for every yard, but eventually it was Cochrane who came off his wing to take a pass and slice through the Broadstairs defence to touch down under the posts, Gooch's conversion leveling the scores at 42 all with the 80 minutes up.

In the two minutes of injury time left Colchester tried for the winning score, but desperate defending kept them out for both sides to earn an unlikely draw, although Colchester had the compensation of outscoring Broadstairs by nine tries to eight.  It was a thrilling game to watch and to take part in, and shows how far the young Romans players have come on the the past month.

On Saturday Colchester make the short journey up the A12 to take on their sister team Ipswich Rhinos A.  However any family sentiments will be put aside as the Romans seek to avenge the 2 point defeat in their first game of the season.  Kick off at Humber Doucy Lane is at 1pm, with Ipswich Rhinos taking on Nottingham Outlaws at 2:30pm.

Scorers
Tries: J Castle, E Castle 3, Braidwood 2, Cochrane 2, Hay
Cons: D Tanner 1, Gooch 2