Colchester Romans RUGBY LEAGUE

METROPOLITAN POLICE 54 COLCHESTER ROMANS 16
Saturday 28 May 

Colchester's fixture was moved from the Metropolitan Police's magnificent facility at Imber Court to a less imposing but attractive ground in the centre of the Cavalry Barracks at Hounslow.  Traffic jams on the M25 and the North Circular Road meant that kick off was delayed by 40 minutes, but that gave time for some spray paint to be bought and for lines to be hurriedly applied to the pitch that the Ministry of Defence had forgotten to mark.

When the Romans finally arrived there was time for the briefest of warm ups before the Police side kicked off.  The Met Police were first on the offensive, and twice they had golden opportunities to score, but the Romans defence was excellent and they were kept out.  Then Colchester made ground upfield and a good period of play saw full back Jonathan Vine, one of seven 16 year-olds in a very young Romans side, force his way over the line only for the referee to judge that it had not been put down cleanly.

The Police opened the scoring after 15 minutes with the winger squeezing over in the corner, then some surging runs by the bigger and stronger policemen saw them score three more tries before 30 minutes was up.  The Romans regrouped and put together some better phases of play, and were rewarded when Vine ghosted through a gap to score under to posts and open Colchester's account.  However, the Police responded with a further try before half time to lead 22-6 at the break.

Colchester started the second half with strong runs by Shane Steward forcing the Police back, conceding a couple of penalties to keep the pressure on until hooker Kyle Hutchins squeezed over, the conversion narrowing the gap to ten points.  The Romans tried to maintain the initiative, but the Police defended well and hit back with two more tries.  Still Colchester did not give up and after making ground with a penalty they pushed the Police back to their own line until on the fifth tackle Lee Tanner put through a grubber kick that was fumbled before Elliott Castle dived to claim the Romans third try.

At 32-16 down with 20 minutes to go there was still a faint hope that Colchester could stage a comeback, but it was the Police who proved their fitness by dominating the last quarter of the game, running in four tries to record a deserved win.  The Romans were not disgraced by their efforts, never shirking the tackles and causing some problems for the older and more experienced Police side.  Although the defeat was heavy a lot was learnt from their second league game, and with more matches under their belts the Romans will put up a better fight when the teams meet again at Colchester in July.

The next game is on Saturday away at Kent Ravens with both teams looking for their first win in the league, but before that there is training at Mill Road on Thursday from 7pm.  New players are always welcome, and can either just turn up on any Thursday, or call Andrew Sarek on 01206 525170 to find out more.

Scorers
Tries: Vine, Hutchins, Castle
Cons: Scotchmer 2