MERSEA ISLAND 0 CAMPION 21

London League division three north east

On yet another windy day on a very wet pitch Mersea’s defeat saw Campion leapfrog them in the division.

Mersea are now one point ahead of bottom club Bancroft and they sit on 18 points, the same as Campion who are ahead on points difference.

The Islanders won the toss and elected to play against the wind up the slope.

Campion kicked for the corners forcing Mersea to run out of defence.

Good defensive play by Campion caused a string of errors by Mersea.

Following a penalty awarded for not releasing the ball after a tackle, a quick tap and run caught Mersea out and resulted in a converted try close to the posts.

Campion once again kept kicking for position, ideal tactics with the strong wind, forcing Mersea to defend deep.

Yet again another penalty was awarded to Campion which was taken quickly, resulting in an almost carbon-copy converted try.

Mersea then put in a passage of good attacking play going up the slope.

However, a knock on by Mersea, five metres from the Campion try line, cost the home side dearly as a Campion scrum allowed their full-back to kick the ball downfield 60 metres putting Mersea on the defensive in their own 22.

Yet more basic errors by Mersea and slack tackling allowed Campion to spread the ball wide and their outside centre crashed over for a converted try on the stroke of half-time.

Following an intensive half-time talk from Mersea’s new Coach George Fouche, they came flying out of their blocks to put Campion under pressure.

But the visitors’ defence stood firm and as the strong wind weakened they were able to clear their lines with some good kicks.

There then followed a long period of stoppages for injuries which affected the flow of the game and neither side were able to sustain attacking play due to basic handling errors.

The stoppages saw 15 minutes of injury time, which ensured the game entered the final session in very poor light.

Although Mersea pressed hard for a score none was forthcoming.

New Mersea coach George Fouche was pleased with the second half play by Mersea but is very aware that basic errors are costing the side dearly, training this week will concentrate on eliminating the silly mistakes which are costing them games which should have been won.