COLCHESTER Rugby Club's quest for a first National 2 league win continues after they lost 36-20 to promotion favourites Barnes but for the second week running there were positives to build on, writes EDWARD MARRIAGE.
Colchester scored three tries and created numerous other chances, head coach Craig Burrows ruing “missed opportunities” in the first half.
Burrows promised to work on maul defence this week – no surprise given Barnes hooker Josh Archer bagged four tries from line-out drives.
On a muggy London day, with the roar of the Fulham football crowd drifting across the Thames, the first of four scoring opportunities for Colchester soon went begging, the visitors eventually taking the lead through Corey Button’s penalty.
Barnes, who narrowly missed out on promotion last season, then turned the screw with two close-range tries, but with Francois Rossouw on for Dan Brennan midway through the half, Colchester continued to create chances.
A storming break by number 8 Harrison Pickett, who had a fine game, was taken on by Rossouw.
The ball was recycled right with Scott Lloyd and Pickett again involved, before the move frustratingly broke down.
Both sides went down to 14 as Mike Stanway joined Barnes’s full-back in the bin for deliberately knocking the ball out of play.
By then Colchester had twice turned down kickable penalties to go for the corner, but again couldn’t find their way over the line.
Harrison was involved in another promising move after Ross Taylor, making his first start of the season, broke rapidly down the left, but the ball was knocked on five metres from the line.
Oli Pickett came on for Vili Tabuatamata, and with Colchester laying siege to the Barnes line, the home side stole the ball and went the length of the field to score, giving them a 19-3 lead at the break.
With Cam Kerr getting a blow to the face, Danny Whiteman came on, and after sustained pressure and multiple phases, the co-captain crossed for Colchester’s first try.
Fin Creighton, on for fly-half Will Dorasamy, converted, and three minutes later Colchester made it 19-15, Mike Stanway scoring after the ball went down the back line and Barnes’s defence ran out of numbers. Creighton’s conversion rebounded off the post.
Barnes soon had their bonus point try, but with Leroy O’Neil on for Lewis Jeffery, Jacob Bodkin squeezed over in the left corner, and at 26-20 Colchester had hope.
However, that was quickly extinguished by two late tries, Barnes’s greater experience at this level giving them the ability to capitalise on the smallest slip.
“The big killer for us was in the first half when we had four good try-scoring opportunities and we didn’t finish,” said Burrows.
“The backs did a really good job when they got ball, I think we looked sharp back-on-back.
“There’s definitely something to build on. It could have gone our way.”
Harrison Pickett deservedly won the coach’s player-of-the-match award, sponsored by the Lexden Crown.
The Blacks host tenth-placed Old Albanians this weekend (3pm).
The Ravens got back to winning ways with a 42-19 home win over Cantabs to go sixth in Eastern Counties 1.
Colchester thirds beat Thurston 15-57, the fourths lost 36-7 to Ipswich and the Iceni beat Woodbridge Women, 78-0.
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