Hertford emerged victorious from this extraordinary match in which 26 penalties were awarded and six yellow cards issued, all for technical offences showing that both sides found it difficult to adjust and comply with the referee’s requirements particularly at the breakdown and in the set scrum.

At one point in the second half twelve Hertford players were up against fourteen from Colchester as the bin was overflowing with four occupants.

Quite apart from the disciplinary aspects, the match was extraordinary in that Hertford won the game with a devastating ten minute period of play either side of the interval, during which they scored their three tries but were more than matched for the remaining seventy minutes by a Colchester side fighting for its survival in this league.
Indeed, for periods of the match, Hertford appeared to lack structure and conceded too many penalties, which disrupted their flow.

The opening fifteen minutes was largely uneventful with an exchange of penalties by Hertford’s Ben Lloyd, who ended the afternoon with a 100% kicking record of three conversions and two penalties, and Colchester’s James Crozier, who himself only missed one conversion, successfully kicking a conversion and two penalties.

Hertford’s Chris Joannou was first to see yellow in the 18th minute for a high tackle and in his absence, Crozier kicked his second penalty to give the visitors the lead for the only time in the match.

With Joannou restored, Hertford retook the lead in the 33rd minute with their first try from skipper Josh Corcoran. By now Hertford were more in their stride and after Michael Allan had taken the ball deep into the Colchester half, there followed a patient build up before Allan created the overlap to put in Corcoran in the left corner. Lloyd was successful with a difficult conversion via the far post to make the score 10 – 6.

Within a couple of minutes, Colchester replacement Alex Rayment saw yellow from his first involvement in the match for not releasing. Lloyd kicked the penalty to extend Hertford’s lead.

Rayment’s dismissal was crucial, as Hertford scored two further tries whilst their opponents were down to fourteen.

On the stroke of half time, David Archer made a devastating break from the base of a scrum and after recycling the ball, Lloyd continued the surge into the Colchester half before unleashing a long pass out to Allan to complete the score. Lloyd converted and Hertford went into the interval with a lead of 20 – 6, which had seemed unlikely ten minutes earlier.

A handling error from the kick off gifted Hertford a scrum, from which they showed their forward dominance by shoving Colchester back several yards. When the referee awarded a penalty, Hertford opted for the scrum and No 8 Archer completed the pushover try. Lloyd converted again and Hertford now had a comfortable lead of 27 – 6 with 37 minutes still to play and every prospect of the bonus point try.

Sadly for Hertford, it wasn’t to be and Colchester put in a spirited performance to take full advantage of a series of penalties conceded by the home side.

With Hertford shoving their visitors backwards at every scrum, Colchester took to moving the ball wide as quickly as possible and from one such move, they scored the first of their two tries in the 56th minute. Right wing Harry Barton was on hand to complete a flowing Colchester move.

There then followed a three minute period during which four yellow cards were produced. First it was the turn of Archer for pulling down a maul, followed by his back row partner and captain Josh Corcoran for a tackle offence. The quartet was completed when prop Jon Patton and his Colchester counterpart Alfie Walsh got their marching orders.

With two back row and a prop in the bin, Hertford coach Richard Gregg had to do some swift reorganisation and both wingers were sacrificed to ensure there was sufficient ballast and expertise remaining in the Hertford pack.

With fifteen minutes left to play, the spectators were wondering what else to expect, and although it was a feisty period with Colchester striving for more scores, there were no further cards and Hertford held out by conceding only one more try. This came in the 74th minute and resulted from some quick thinking and a brilliantly executed cross kick penalty by scrum half Brett Cutbush from the left wing to the right, for full back Damian Brambley to gather and score. Crozier added the conversion to make the final score 27 – 18.

Team: Rob Macpherson-Smith (Matt Bendin 58 mins), Jack Mann (Jack Elston 65 mins)(Michael Allan 76 mins), Stuart Smart, Luke Sloan, Michael Allan (James Mole 68 mins), Ben Lloyd, Ben Creasey, Jon Patton (Rob Macpherson-Smith 78 mins), Brett MacNamee, Sam Pacey, Matt Perks, Jack Elston (Lewis Hett 59 mins), Chris Joannou, Josh Corcoran, David Archer

Tries: Josh Corcoran
Michael Allan
David Archer

Conversions: Ben Lloyd (3)

Penalties: Ben Lloyd (2)