Three of the ladies who attended the Midlands trials on the Saturday, Abbey Walker, Alice Meredith and Caitlin Cook, still found enough energy to play in the blistering heat. They were joined by Adi Illingworth, Ed Merry, Emile Du Toit and Nik McKean. This was shaping up to be a very long hot afternoon with only one substitute until Merry and Illingworth ran into – almost literally – a fellow Essex Bishop, Steve Green of Billericay, in the car park and roped him into joining the squad.

With Witham sadly having to withdraw through lack of numbers, there were only three clubs represented, but with Havering turning out two teams each team would get three games, the games would be reduced to 15 minutes, running clock with no half time.

Halstead started off against Havering Red Devils and started in fine form. Playing at pace, but patiently it wasn’t long before Du Toit danced through the defensive line and raced away to score the first. Illingworth added a second before Cook, keeping the defence stretched wide on the wing, touched down for her debut try.

Havering clearly weren’t ready to throw the game away and came back scoring a couple of their own before Merry touched down for his first. Meredith then got on the scoresheet taking a neat pass before accelerating through a gap to race away and score. Merry then completed his brace, intercepting a pass and racing the length of the pitch before being substituted by the referee fearing for his health. Havering scored a couple of consolation tries at the end, but Halstead ran out 6-4 winners.

Halstead then faced the all-male, all-adult side of Harwich and whilst they put in a good defensive shift, they couldn’t stop them scoring four tries over the 15-minute period. Several good plays got Halstead close to the try line but only a close-range dive from Illingworth could get on the scoresheet. Halstead losing 1-4.

The final game of day saw Halstead take on Havering Red Hot. Again, Halstead raced into a quick lead with Merry scoring a brace before Havering had really got going. Meredith then repeated her try from earlier; a catch, a gentle start, then unexpected acceleration through a gap that didn’t look like it was there. Du Toit got his second for the day as Halstead moved into a 4 try lead but Havering again came back scoring two of their own before Merry completed his hat-trick and put the game out of reach. Another couple of consolation tries saw Havering come back, but it was too late to overhaul the lead and Halstead won 5-4.

Link to the official photographs from the day is; CLICK ME

Halstead host the final leg of the Touch Series on Sunday 27th at the Courtauld Sports Ground. The first tap will be aimed for 1pm and there will be refreshments and other stalls available throughout the afternoon.

If you are interested in playing Touch, Halstead run an informal mixed session on a Monday evening from 7pm at the Courtauld Sports Ground.