Colchester won their first game of the season with a bang on a chilly bonfire night with a bonus point victory against a plucky Amersham and Chiltern side. The Colchester team gave a controlled performance to score four tries to record their first win after five near-miss losing bonus point defeats in their eight previous games.

Amersham and Chiltern were also seeking their first win and made this a keenly contested game. The visitors were determined to play rugby with ball in hand, forwards retained possession well and backs explored opportunities against their hosts, scrumhalf Mikey McDonald and speedy wing Lloyd Anderson impressing.

Fullback James Crozier scored a hat-trick of tries for Colchester, wing Joe Flexman returning from injury to score another with David Higgins’ boot topping up the points. The pack made a telling contribution to the win, prop Joe Mcmillan a bulwark at the scrum that Colchester used to dominate their opponents.

Amersham and Chiltern started with a series of attacks, forwards and backs combined to edge forward – until Colchester’s defence dislodged the ball in a tackle. The loose ball was seized by the fast reacting Crozier who raced 75 metre to score the first try, Higgins converting.

Debutant wing Jordan Fenton set up a Colchester attacking platform, Jerone Awesu’s charging carry building a good position, quickly recycled ball from wily scrumhalf Brett Cutbush releasing Crozier to dummy his way to a second try.

Amersham and Chiltern roused themselves. McDonalds’ quick tap penalty caught Colchester off guard, flanker Joe Tunney crossing for a try. Good ball retention paid dividends, Lloyd Anderson using blistering pace to add a second try for the visitors.

Colchester played their way back into the game, centre Brandon Fanolua slicing through the opposing defence to close to the Amersham line - but the ball was knocked on. Ollie Pickett made hard yards, handling in a ruck cost the visitors a penalty Higgins converted for Colchester’s 17:10 halftime lead.

The second half saw Colchester return to the attack, a knock-on frustrating another scoring chance. The introduction of Miles Davies at prop and the veteran Elliot Castle at lock saw the Colchester pack start to power their opponents backwards at the set piece. A series of scrums saw Colchester pile the pressure on, one retreating scrum running over the referee who required treatment.

A Colchester scrum turnover set up an attacking position in the Amersham 22, quick ball sped along the line to Joe Flexman who powered his way over for a try.

Sensing a fourth bonus point try was close, Colchester mounted a series of attacks with breaks by hooker Alfie Walsh; flanker Danny Whiteman and No.8 Ollie White made ground before veteran Castle’s run brought cheers of “Eli!” from the home crowd.

However, loose ball gave Amersham the chance to counterattack against an over extended Colchester, No.8 Nick Hamilton rounding off the move with a try.

Returning to the attack Colchester’s Fanolua broke to set Crozier free to zip under the posts for his third and Colchester’s fourth bonus point try, Higgins sealing the win with his conversion.