Colchester Romans RUGBY LEAGUE

BROADSTAIRS BULLDOGS 46 COLCHESTER ROMANS 28
Saturday 9 July 

The O&G sponsored Colchester Romans made the long trip to the Isle of Thanet with a bare 13 players, only three of them aged over 18, but when they arrived they managed to find two Broadstairs substitutes willing to play for them.  Colchester started brightly, pushing Broadstairs back to their line, but when possession was turned over the Bulldogs made deep inroads into Roman territory, scoring a try with their first set of six.

Colchester rallied and scored through Jason Hatcher, but Broadstairs were playing a fast wide game creating gaps for players to run through, and it wasn't long until the winger was released with an overlap to touch down in the corner.  The Bulldogs continued to dominate and when the other wing scored they were 16-4 up with 25 minutes gone.  Colchester's Mark Braidwood was causing problems for Broadstairs, and their tackling didn't look quite as solid as in the game at Colchester a month earlier, but despite a couple of penalties deep in Broadstairs territory the Romans could not quite make the extra yard to get over the try line.

The Bulldogs won possession and a couple of quick passes saw them run the ball all the way back to score, and on the stroke of half time a super phase of play with the ball interchanging between half a dozen players saw a half time lead of 28-4.

The second half started will both sides remembering how the Romans came back so dramatically at their last meeting, and a Lee Tanner try after ten minutes gave Colchester hope.  However, this was cancelled out with interest as Broadstairs scored two quick tries to lead 36-10.  With 15 minutes to go the Kent side were showing signs of tiredness, with their large contingent of substitutes being used more and more.  The Romans fitness saw them keep going, although they sorely missed the big runners who could have been so effective, with Braidwood having to carry the ball time and again. 

Colchester were pushing the Bulldogs back and a scoot from Kyle Hutchins saw him dart through to pull a try back.  From the restart the Romans attacked again, and Hutchins wriggled over for his second try, and with the gap reduced to 14 points there were some ripples of panic amongst the Broadstairs players and their now silent supporters.  The Romans needed to retain possession to stand any chance of another comeback, but a penalty gave the ball back to Broadstairs who scored the try that would see them safe.  The last three minutes saw another try for each side, with Broadstairs deserved winners.

Colchester were bullish after the game, confident that with a full set of substitutes they would have run the league leaders very close indeed.  With one more game to play the Romans are almost guaranteed a home tie in the first round of the play offs, and with a favourable draw they could play Broadstairs in the final on 13 August.

Next week Colchester have a friendly fixture against St Albans Centurions, which will be a chance to test themselves against the leaders of the East Conference where the Romans hope to be playing next season.

Scorers
Tries: Hatcher, L Tanner, Hutchins 2, Ben Guest
Cons: D Tanner 4