Colchester fought every inch of the way in this thrilling contest and gave second-placed Juddians a real scare by coming within one score of beating them on their home turf.

The result was in doubt right up to the end and the boys in black can be proud that they picked up two bonus points against a top side. Colchester had selected a strong side with Alex Mitchell returning at prop and Tom Miller taking the inside centre position.

Soon after the kick-off Colchester were awarded a penalty for offside, which fly half David Higgins, duly converted giving the visitors an early lead. Juddians soon replied when their inside centre intercepted a Colchester pass, raced forward and put their right winger over for an unconverted try. The set pieces were closely competed with the Blacks often stealing ball. However, Juddians won their scrum in Colchester’s half and shortly after Brett Cutbush, the Black’s fullback, was adjudged to be off his feet and the hosts’ kicker successfully converted the awarded penalty.

Soon the marauding hosts came back into Colchester’s half and their quality centre burst through a gap leading to a score under the posts. Colchester kept their heads up and flanker Danny Whiteman earned several turnovers giving them possession at critical times. A brilliant steal by captain Liam Pickett from a Juddian lineout, gave scrum half Matt Wadling plenty of time to link with his backs, leading to a fine try by left winger James Crozier in the corner.

Substitute Ben Murphy made an instant impact when he came off the bench and he quickly linked with the backs for winger Damien Brambley to score in the right corner. Juddians quickly replied to this setback when their inside centre scored a converted try. This was followed by another try by the hosts when their No.7 broke from a scrum and apparently touched down a loose ball although he appeared to knock it forward in the process. Later, Colchester were awarded a lineout close to the hosts’ line. Hooker Charlie Thorogood linked well with jumper Pickett and the whole pack drove towards the line for No 8 Sam Easton to touch down. Higgins converted bringing the score closer at 29 to 22.

Halfway through the second half Juddians’ No.8 picked up from the back of a scrum, fed their scrum half who put their right winger over in the corner. Back came the Blacks and another surge by Murphy allowed them to advance towards Juddians’ try line for James Mitchell to score a converted try giving the visitors a bonus point.

The remainder of the game was played with great intensity by both sides but neither could break through the opposing defence. Centre Matt Smith was particularly impressive with his hard tackling and ability to strip the ball from the opposition.

Finally, with the score in their favour at 34-29 and with some relief, Juddians kicked the ball off the field to end the contest.