Beccles 22 v Colchester III 26

Four call offs on the Saturday morning meant some hasty rearranging in the Beccles ranks. Armstrong made an earlier than expected return from injury. Hinlsey and Kelly were forced in to starting a game they were meant to be covering from the bench. Roslyn and Knight were drafted in to fill the bench.
Colchester got the better of the early exchanges and with Beccles sleeping from a lineout they were able to open the scoring with a converted try. Beccles came back strong and scored their first try of the game. A strong scrum by the Beccles pack gave the backs some good ball. Gedney fed Bonner running a strong line and he cut through for his first try of the season. Gedney added the conversion.
It was Colchester who scored next but again Beccles bounced back with a try of their own. This time it was Gedney who found a way through the Colchester defence to give a half time score of 12 – 14.
After a sloppy start to the second half, gifting Colchester an unconverted try it was Beccles who began to take control of the game. The Beccles pack was on top and Man of the Match Puxley was distributing the ball well at scrum half.
Gedney added a penalty and had two more bounce back off the post as they tried to cut the deficit. Beccles finally got their noses in front with a try. Some strong carries down the left sucked in the Colchester defence and when the ball was fed back right Armstrong got the ball in the clear to score out wide.
Beccles were three in front but they showed how they have not been used to winning this season as panic set in in places as Colchester pushed for a score. In the end the Colchester captain was able to score with a try against the base of the post to steal the victory by 22 – 26.
This was another improved performance from Beccles but again the victory eluded them. They will need to put this right on Saturday when they face Swaffham in a shoot out for bottom spot in the table.