The unbeaten Mersea Island 1st XV travelled up the A14 to Stowmarket, to take on their 2nd XV on Saturday and defending top spot in Eastern Counties 1 South.

Stowmarket’s reserves have had a tough time of it this year, with only one win from seven this season; but with their 1st XV in London 1 (Level 6) the fixture is always a tough one with quality throughout the team. However, after kicking off, it didn’t take long for the visitors to put their stamp on the match being playing in wet and gloomy conditions.

From a right-hand lineout, Mersea Island swung the ball left, with lock Warren Bewers eating metres through the Stowmarket defence. Played switched back to the right, and some slick handling between forwards and backs allowed centre Ben Norfolk to cut through and score the Islanders first try of the match. With the greasy surface playing a factor throughout, the big Stowmarket pack manged to control possession for the next 10 minutes, testing Mersea’s resolve by battering away at the blue wall and coming within 5 metres of scoring. Nevertheless, the visitors defence held strong, and a relieving penalty allowed Mersea to exit on their own terms.

With ball in hand, the Islanders looked dangerous, stringing together multiple phases to bend the Stowmarket defence from touchline to touchline. A penalty deep in the home sides half gave Mersea a lineout a few metres out, and from the resulting drive, hooker Nic Woodhead dotted down the visitors second. With handling errors inevitable, both sides coughed the ball up giving the forwards a chance to pack down at scrum time, with Mersea going forward on both sides of the ball.

This improvement in the scrum was pleasing to see and allowed the Islanders the front foot on both attack and defence. Coming up to half time, Stowmarket – with some express pace in the backs – managed to break the line on two occasions, running deep into the visitor’s half. However, some last-ditch defence by Fullback Isaac Sestak, and poor breakdown discipline by Stowmarket gave Mersea back the ball. Following a huge punt downfield by flyhalf James Douds, the home side’s counterattack broke down and the spilled ball was collected by Mersea and shipped down the right for winger James Deighton to score.

From the restart, Mersea again set to work with structured play giving quick ball to Douds who was beginning to pin back Stowmarket with some well-placed kicks. The Stowmarket back three went gung-ho again, and again met some stoic defence which forced yet another penalty in their own red zone. With Mersea’s lineout running like clockwork, a simple crash ball off Douds gave Norfolk his second of the match. With Stowmarket now flagging, Mersea rumbled their way down field from the kick off, and only some desperate defence stopped flanker Todd Owen scoring. However, from the goal line drop out, it took only two phases for the visitors to score; Douds being rewarded for his good work by racing in for the fifth try of the match. Flanker Laurence White converted his fourth of the day and it was 0-33 to Mersea Island at half time.

The second half started as the first finished, Mersea receiving the kick off and slicing through the Stowmarket defence with some excellent structured play between forward and backs. Consecutive penalties in their own 22 put Stowmarket under pressure, and unable to cope with this onslaught saw Todd Owen crash over inside 3 minutes of the restart. To their credit, Stowmarket kept their heads up, and from a 50-22, managed to score the next points. From the lineout, they shifted the ball left and a mix up in defence allowed their centre to score. 7-40 to Mersea with half an hour to play.

With fire in the belly having conceded a soft try, Mersea flew into the tackles from the kick off and forced Stowmarket to again concede possession, only for the greasy ball to also escape the grasp if the visitors inside the Stowmarket 22. More scrum pressure forced the kick, which skewed off the boot of the home team fly half, giving more ball to Mersea. However, with conditions worsening, and the light beginning to fade, the errors from both sides started to increase. The next few minutes saw a multitude of scrums being set as both teams made unforced errors. Stowmarket finally had some good ball, and their impressive number 8 picked and went from the back, setting the pacey right winger away down the tramlines. However, with some good cover defence and Stowmarket then running out of ideas, Mersea managed to force yet another error and pounce on the bobbling ball.

Pat Gardiner – now on at scrum half – started to box kick from the base, with two in quick succession causing all sorts of confusion amongst the Stowmarket back field. With the second bouncing down the right, Deighton looked certain to gather and score, however, he was taken out by his opposite and his afternoon was over. The resulting penalty was nudged into touch for a lineout and after stretching the home teams defence across the pitch, yet another penalty was conceded. Gardiner took the quick tap and went close to the line, allowing back row Saimoni Vuki to dive over from only inches out.

From the restart, try scorer Vuki rampaged back down field, leaving the tiring Stowmarket defenders sprawling in his wake; finally hauled down just inside the opposition half. Slick handling to the right gave scrum half Michael Williamson – now at centre – a chance to cut through the defence and push Stowmarket back into their own 22 once more. Now being able to contain the onrushing blue tide forced yet another penalty, and Douds duly nudged the kick to within 6 metres of the Stowmarket line. Quick lineout ball off of the top allowed Captain Matt White a run in through the heart of the Stowmarket midfield, but the home team managed to hold the prop up over the line.

With the game now a forgone conclusion, and light becoming an issue, more unforced errors created a stop-start nature to the final 10 minutes. However, amongst the errors, it was Mersea who controlled territory and possession, and from a poor Stowmarket clearance, winger Alex Birch countered to set up the final try of the match. From the ensuing ruck inside Stowmarket’s half, the ball was swung out to midfield where it bounced gratefully into eventual player of the match Ben Norfolk’s hands, and he chopped through to run in unopposed for the final try of the game. White converted again, and when the final whistle was blown the score read 7-54 to the men from Mersea Island.