The first half of the match was a very even affair, with both sides enjoying equal amounts of possession albeit with a significant number of errors and turnovers that were had. The first points of the game went to Colchester after just a few minutes; a bounce pass wrong footing the Mersea defence which allowed Colchester to cut through and score. From a lineout deep inside their own 22m, Mersea showed some bravado by swinging the ball wide through two phases: left wing Ollie Frost charging out of the red zone up towards the 10m line. A good hit on the next ball carrier resulted in a cleaner coming in from the side, and Colchester kicked the penalty for a lineout 8 metres from the try line. From the throw, the home team went right, then left, and on the third phase a pass from Flyhalf David Tounge hit the turf and popped up perfectly for the player running on the hard line. Joe Flexman converted, and it was 7-0 to Colchester.

The next 25 minutes belonged to Mersea who enjoyed most of the possession. From the restart, the visitors hustled back the ball, and with the play going fast-left, Frost was into the redzone. Three phases stretched Colchester back to the right-hand edge but a driving counter ruck from the defence turned over possession. A few minutes later, strong Mersea defence forced an error just outside the 22, and the Islanders were on attack again; Alex Strutt settling it in the midfield. More phases right, then back left saw the ball looped out again to Frost, who powered his way up to the 5-metre line, only for the inside ball to get knocked on. From the scrum, Colchester decided to run the exit which resulted in an intercepted pass. Mersea attacked again, but again the ball was turned over. The remainder of the half evened out with a kick for goal by Flexman being missed. 7-0 to the home side at the break.

From the restart, good pressure from Ben Norfolk forced Colchester to exit. Although setting up to kick, aggressive line speed on Tongue forced him to step and run, and under pressure his pass was knocked on into touch by the right winger. Although the ball was recovered by Colchester, the resulting exit gave Mersea a lineout on the Colchester 10m line. Up stepped Brad Gardiner, who danced his way through the onrushing defence, offloading to lock Todd Owen to run the last 20 metres to score. The conversion was missed but Mersea were on the board at 7-5. Mersea kept the pressure on and begin winning some breakdowns, but the ensuing attacks were not finished off. Through these set piece and handling errors Colchester now began to rack up a weight of possession and the remainder of the half went mostly to the home side. Nevertheless, it was Mersea who had more chances for points but the difficult penalty kicks didn’t stick and Colchester maintained their 2 point lead. Mersea also nearly scored a second when Norfolk went close. A right-hand lineout was mauled to just 5 metres out, and when the play went left a high tackle on Aidan Frensham gave the Islanders a penalty. The ball was tapped quickly, and although the Colchester players were not back 10, the play was allowed to go on. From a pick and go under the posts, Norfolk looked for all money to score, only for the defender to smash it out his grasp for a knock on over the line and no reward for the Islanders.

With Mersea having defended for the majority of the second half but going close a few times it was Colchester who now ran down the last few minutes of the game. Lineout ball just outside the Mersea 22 gave Colchester and opportunity to attack, and with the forwards crashing in close managed to burrow their way to the line and score a converted try. And in the last play of the game, Mersea had a final attacking opportunity with a scrum on the halfway. Although initially going forwards, the scrum twisted 45 degress and the ball squirted out the tunnel into the Colchester openside flankers hands. Play went towards the midfield, and a line break and offload gave Colchester a final try, to blow out the score to 21-5. Credit must go to both sides for an excellent game of rugby and which Mersea Island can be proud of, taking the league leaders all the way to the wire away from home.

The team now have a 3-week break before the second half of the season starts at home against Fakenham on the 6th January. The reverse side of the draw is more favourable to Mersea with no less than 6 home games to be played before April.