Colchester’s under-14s put three teams out for the first time this season, with the A team heading to Old Northamptonians.

The visitors dominated possession with the forwards giving their best-ever display and worked continuously as a cohesive unit throughout, tries by Hallows and Wadling weren’t enough to prevent a 15-12 defeat.

The under-14s B team saw a break down the blind side by Laurence Clark swiftly moved through the forwards, before Stephen Vasey delivered a scoring pass to new boy Oliver Donovan, but that was the only score for Colchester as they were hit by injuries in a 15-5 defeat by Woodbridge.

A combined Hadleigh and Mistley side provided the opposition for Colchester under-14s C team. Colchester were on the defensive for a large part of the match and required some brave tackling by Will Ovenden, Wilf Hoskyns and Bradley Wosien, with Wosien, Alex Wright and Jake Allen able to show their pace and handling skills only on a few occasions as the visitors lost 52-7.