In a fitting tribute to Jack Tompkins, who was playing his last match as captain, Mistley 1st XV won by a convincing margin on the road against opponents Hadleigh.

The visitors started the match strongly - some champagne rugby soon leading to blindside flanker Jesse Fearn sliding over the try line near the posts.

Centres Matthieu Barriere and Chris Parrott often ran intelligent lines and decoys, allowing fly-half Matt Course to hit them with well timed passes, therefore splitting Hadleigh’s defence wide open. This was followed by tenacious breakdown work and carries in the tight by loose-head prop Jason Veares and locks Charlie Barrett and Wayne Strunkey.

Off the back of this platform, despite resolute tackling from the hosts, Barriere scored his first try for Mistley by sniping down the blindside. He soon followed it up with a second after a cunning flick pass back inside by Parrott fooled Hadleigh’s drifting defence.

Following a try by Hadleigh’s openside flanker, a loop move initiated by Course brought room for him to break down the left side of the pitch, and his delayed pass set free left wing Rhys Thompson to race down the touchline. After several phases of good recycling of the ball by the forwards, tight-head prop Sam Butcher burrowed over the try line.

In the final act of the half, right wing Rob Bloom weaved his way through the hosts’ defence at speed and, drawing the last defender, passed to No. 8 Jon Vine who had a clear run in to score under the posts.

In the second half, Hadleigh displayed spirited resolve, with a rearguard action based around their forwards ferocious carries and their scrum dominance. But before they could get back into the match, Tompkins - switching from full-back to fly-half due to an injury to Course - kicked a drop goal and later whipped a pass out wide to Thompson, who scorched the hosts’ defence for a scintillating eighty metre try.

Hadleigh then started to dominate the match and were able to gradually drill holes through the Mistley defence before scoring two tries in quick succession. However, the final say went to Mistley when Tompkins capped an assured performance with a penalty, making the final score 17-40.