Colchester Romans RUGBY LEAGUE

KENT RAVENS 18 COLCHESTER ROMANS 42
Saturday 4 June 

Colchester Romans recorded their first win as a club, outscoring Kent Ravens by eight tries to four.  Once again the Romans fielded a very young team with only four of the squad aged over 18.  Colchester started the better side, driving Kent back in the tackle time and again, and in attack they made ground with every run.  The first score came after just 5 minutes when captain Shane Steward powered his way over the line, Dail Tanner converting.  Soon after Colchester were on the attack again, and a good pass from stand off Dom Gooch put Mark Braidwood through for a 10-0 lead.

The Romans continued to play well, playing a simple game and sticking to completing their sets of six, but the Ravens regrouped and their defence held out well.  Kent began to string together some good phases of their own and after 20 minutes scored a deserved try.  Colchester hit back when Daz Mason hoisted a kick collected by Kyle Hutchins who sprinted under the posts to extend the lead to 12 points, and soon after a powerful drive from 16 year old Liam Buddha Norris set up a try for Jason Hatcher. 

A couple of careless penalties allowed Kent to go on the attack, and on the stroke of half time quick play and fast handling saw the Ravens go over in the corner to make the score 20-8 at the break.

At the restart started Kent were looking to keep their momentum going and they took play to the Romans, but Colchester's aggressive defence knocked them back and when the Romans won possession they again concentrated on completing their sets of six gaining impressive yardage each time.  Ten minutes into the second half Norris, despite being the smallest player on the pitch once again drove at the Ravens, and a quick play the ball saw Hutchins cross the line for his second try, Gooch converting.

Kent had their best phase of the game with some straight running and risky though effective passes to keep the Romans in their own half, and they inevitably scored in the corner, a very good conversion narrowing the gap back to 12 points with 20 minutes to go. 

Colchester stuck to their game plan, and from a penalty Braidwood drove over the line for a try, but the Ravens weren't finished yet.  Kent started to throw the ball around trying to find gaps in the tiring Colchester defence and with five minutes to go they scored a try in the right hand corner.  However, a mistake by Kent at the kick off handed the initiative back to Colchester and Braidwood went over for his hat trick.  In injury time burly prop Pete Robertson dived over from short range, Gooch's fourth conversion completing a 42-18 victory, the Romans' first since being formed this season.

The win lifts Colchester to fourth place in the merit table, thanks to bonus points and other teams having points deducted.  On Saturday they take on leaders Broadstairs Bulldogs at Mill Road, 1pm kick-off.  The game is followed at 3pm by a Conference Premier fixture between Ipswich Rhinos and Greenwich Admirals, the first time Ipswich have played a home game at Colchester.

Scorers
Tries: Steward, Braidwood 3, Hutchins 2, Hatcher, Robertson
Cons: Tanner, Gooch 4