Colchester Romans RUGBY LEAGUE

COLCHESTER ROMANS 30 IPSWICH RHINOS A 24
Saturday 6 August 

Colchester Romans reached the Grand Final of the London League after an exhilarating win over a strong and experienced Ipswich second string.  The Rhinos side that took the field at Mill Road was quite different to the teams that the Romans had faced twice before, with the very experienced pair of Paul Le Marquand and Andy Windridge using the game to return from injuries.

The Rhinos kicked off with a breeze behind them and the Romans started with a competent set of six.  Good defence saw them them turn over Rhinos possession and after just four minutes rookie winger Tom Milne went over in the corner for the first try of the game.  The Rhinos came back at Colchester but despite being on their line the Romans kept them at bay.  But two penalties in succession saw the Rhinos on the attack again and they crossed the line to level the scores at 4-4. 

Colchester looked the better team for most of the first half, defending well against some surging runs from the big Ipswich forwards, and making good ground when they had possession.  After a period of pressure 16 year old Kyle Hutchins darted  over from short range for his twelfth try of the season, and ten minutes before the break stand off John Scotchmer chased his own chip ahead to touch down under the posts for a 14-4 lead.

Ipswich started the second half the better of the sides, with powerful runs gaining them ground.  Ipswich consistently completed their sets of six and Paul Le Marquand's kicks kept the Romans pinned in their own half.  Another set of six ended with a Le Marquand kick through which was grounded for a try, but Colchester hit back with good handling to Milne on the wing who beat his man, Scotchmer's conversion stretching the lead to 12 points.

In a spell of end to end rugby it was Ipswich who were next to score through Paul Le Marquand, but once again the Romans replied through Jay Duder who drove through a number of tired looking tackles.  Windridge made some powerful surges upfield, and again Le Marquand was at the centre of the action when his lofted kick was taken by the wing to touch down in the corner, but minutes later Milne got his hat trick after breaking through tackles to score under the posts.

With seven minutes to go Ipswich won a loose ball and fast hands from Lee Clasby released the wing to narrow the gap to just four points to set up a thrilling finale.  A Colchester penalty allowed them to get downfield and they played down the click to record a memorable victory with a great display of teamwork against a team who were probably better on paper, but who lacked the discipline showed by the Romans.

The young Colchester side now go on to the Grand Final on Saturday against Broadstairs Bulldogs at Storm Park, Croydon.

Scorers
Tries: Milne 3, Scotchmer, Hutchins, Duder
Goals: Scotchmer 3, Pearson