COLCHESTER Rugby Club men’s first team will start their new league campaign as they ended the last one - with a game against Hertford, writes EDWARD MARRIAGE.

The Blacks will be hoping for a different outcome, as they lost that match on Hertford’s boggy pitch 48-12. The surface, at least, won’t be a problem on September 2 as the match will be played on Raven Park’s AGP.

The mouth-watering fixtures then come thick-and-fast for the team which finished in a very respectable third place in Regional 1 South East, and who are aiming even higher next season.

The second week of the new season sees the team go to Shelford for a repeat of their most eye-catching result of last term, when Colchester ended the high-flying Cambridgeshire side’s long unbeaten home record with a 27-3 win.

Colchester then entertain their closest neighbours and biggest rivals as Sudbury come to Raven Park on September 16.

The return fixture over the county boundary is the traditional pre-Christmas match, on December 16.

Amongst other fixtures of note, newly-relegated Essex clubs Rochford Hundred and Westcliff are at the Sports Park on November 11 and January 27 respectively. Both are certain to prove stiff opponents.

Colchester will end the season the hard way with three of their last four matches on the road, finishing as they started with a game against Hertford.

“The first XV’s league will be much tougher this season, with the likes of Rochford and Westcliff coming down from the league above,” said Colchester chairman Karl O’Brien.

“We’ve recruited well so far and have added close to ten new players to the squad and it’s our aim to gain promotion.

"We have the players, we have the coaches and we have the best facilities in the league.”

Colchester first-team fixtures: September 2nd: Hertford (h); 9th: Shelford (a); 16th: Sudbury (h); 23rd: Letchworth Garden City (a); 30th: Old Northamptonians (h). October 14th: Westcliff (a); 21st: Bedford Athletic (h). November 4th: Harpenden (a); 11th: Rochford Hundred (h); 18th: Oundle (h). December 2nd: Tring (a); 9th: Shelford (h); 16th: Sudbury (a). January 6th: Letchworth Garden City (h); 13th: Old Northamptonians (a); 27th: Westcliff (h). February 3rd: Bedford Athletic (a); 17th: Harpenden (h). March 2nd: Rochford Hundred (a); 16th: Oundle (a); 23rd: Tring (h). April 6th: Hertford (a).

Meanwhile, The Ravens’ campaign in Counties 2 East starts a couple of weeks later on September 16 with a home match against Norfolk-based Crusaders, followed by the short trip to Mersea Island the following week.