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Tendring Barbarians 33 Suffolk 33
Tendring Barbarians and Suffolk shared ten tries in a high scoring draw that gave the spectators great entertainment on a cold and windy night at Colchester's Mill Road ground.
Following last season's loss Suffolk were able to boost their squad with the addition of players from Hadleigh and Ipswich, as well as Colchester's Max Cochrane who played for Tendring in last season's fixture. Colchester and Mersea Island provided the bulk of the Tendring squad, but as is traditional all the North East Essex clubs were represented and there were also players from Essex University and Colchester VIth Form College.
Tendring took the game to Suffolk from the start, retaining possession well and forcing the county side to defend. In the spirit of Barbarians rugby penalty kicks for goal were turned down for try scoring chances, and after ten minutes Tendring got their reward when hooker Toby Green (Mersea Island) scored the opening try from a lineout catch and drive.
From the restart Suffolk had their first good quality possession of the game and they made good use of it driving the Barbarians back to their line allowing fly half Pete Le Marquand (Mersea Island) to deliver a well timed pass to Nick Hollie (Ipswich) who skipped through a gap to score under the posts, Le Marquand converting.
Tendring once again went on the offensive putting Suffolk under sustained pressure, sound defence keeping them out until Jay Duder (Colchester) made a half break before laying the ball off to centre Sean Mills (Harwich & Dovercourt) who sped over the line to retake the lead, Jon Williams (Mersea Island) adding the extra points.
Suffolk looked to reply with another score straight away with powerful drives from their big and experienced pack, but Tendring managed to hold out until Williams cleared with a sliced kick. The Suffolk backs were caught out allowing Tendring to turn over possession, and it was Duder again who made the telling break before releasing wing Matt Harwood (Sudbury) who brushed off one tackle and outpaced the defenders for the Barbarians to take a 19-7 lead.
Tendring had taken their chances in the first half and deserved their lead, but just before half time Suffolk broke downfield with centre Max Cochrane(Colchester) touching down under the posts, Le Marquand's conversion reducing the arrears to 19-14 at the interval.
Both sides made substitutions at half time, with Rob Petehrick (Bury St Edmunds) moving to scrum half and Ollie Gilbert (Hadleigh) coming on at stand off. This pairing made a big difference to the county side with the backs looking very dangerous with the ball in hand. However Tendring's centre pairing of Steve Betts (Mistley) and Mike Fields (Colchester and Woden Valley Rams, Canberra) put in big tackles in midfield.
The third quarter of the game was played at a frenetic pace as both teams tried to find a way through. With almost an hour gone the deadlock was broken when Le Marquand put in a speculative kick that bounced awkwardly in the Tendring in-goal area, Cochrane grounding the ball for Suffolk to go back into the lead. Just three minutes later another Suffolk kick was fumbled and it was Cochrane again who stormed over for his hat-trick taking Suffolk into a 28-19 lead, and things started to look ominous for the Barbarians.
But Jon Williams calmed things down with some good territorial kicks, and when Tendring won a line out ten metres from the Suffolk line, the forwards drove over for Steve Haycock (Mersea Island) to claim the try, Williams' conversion narrowing the gap to just two points. Once again the pendulum swung the other way as Suffolk won good field position in Tendring's 22, and excellent recycling allowed replacement hooker Dickie Wong (Essex University) to score.
However the Barbarians were not finished and another catch at a line out set up a drive for the Suffolk line, but this time Duder broke from the back of the maul to run through the Suffolk defence for a try, Williams converting well under pressure to level the scores.
The last five minutes saw the game played at full tilt to get the decisive score, but when the final whistle blew all agreed a draw was the fairest result.
Scorers
Tendring Barbarians
Tries: Green, Mills, Harwood, Haycock, Duder
Cons: Williams 4
Suffolk
Tries: Hollie, Cochrane 3, Wong
Cons: Le Marquand 2, Gilbert 2
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