Mistley faced Sudbury 2nd XV who were 2nd in the table and not daunted by this ,Mistley continued to improve with every game and this one was no exception.

It was the advantage of playing at home and the strength and superiority of the scrum that was the driving force of the game .With the welcome return of the Pack leader and Prop,Tom Rowe ,this had a very positive effect on the game.Every member of the pack played their part with Ed Barrie ,as flanker,harrowing the Sudbury forwards.The front row combination of James Wares ,Anthony Ward and Rowe made a massive contribution allowing Tom Rowe to crash over the line to score first.However Sudbury played to their strengths with quick and young backs which caused the home team problems all afternoon .However with superb tacking from Rob Bloom and scrum half Jess Fearn ,they were able to contain the Sudbury backs.

Mattie Course at fly half then scored and together with his conversion pushed the lead to 12-0.However as before ,Mistley weaknesses showed through on the overlap as Sudbury scored to reduce the deficit to 12-5. Moby Tuner then went off injured to be replaced by Jack Tompkins who has really come up to the mark as a 1st XV player.Bloom nearly scored with a brilliant scissors but then the pack pushed on further to the try line allowing Mistley's captain Nick Graves at No 8 to control the ball in the scrum and to score.However Sudbury quickly responded and despite heroic defending from Connor Williams ,the score ended at 17-12 at half time.

Mistley knew they could not drop their guard and Graves asked for more aggression .Course missed a difficult penalty but then Sudbury ran right though the Mistley team to score and lead at 19-17.Mistley quickly upped the tempo and were back on the Sudbury try line as Nick Graves went over the line.The referee did not award the try as he was not in a position to see it so a scrum was given to Mistley allowing Fearn to score .With a successful conversion from Course, Mistley were back in the lead at 24-19.Stephen Betts then came off giving Harry Kerins, one of the younger members of the squad the opportunity to play.Course was then injured and Fred Barrett came on to replace him.A missed importunity to score and Sudbury began to pile on the pressure and were drastically looking to reduce the deficit.Tensions rose and Mistley did not want a repeat of last years home game when they lost 26-25 in the last minute against Sudbury. However Tompkins kicked a difficult long penalty which went over the posts to increase the lead to 27-19.More excellent defensive work from Bloom , Barrett, Will Vine and Dickie Johnson saved the day as the final whistle blew to secure a well earned victory for Mistley and to place them to the middle of the table.Ed Barrie was named man of the Match.

This next weekend the Ist XV are away to Brightlingsea and the Marauders are at home to Woodbridge Kick offs at 3 pm.With confidence in the club at a high, hopefully Mistley can secure another double.These games are sponsored by The Station Buffet at Manningtree