HARWICH and Dovercourt Rugby Club suffered heartache in their promotion play-off at Colchester.

They went into the game looking to cause an upset, with the winner going on to play in Eastern Counties League division one next season.

With barely any grass on the pitch on a lovely hot summer's day, it promised to be a hard and fast game of rugby.

From the start, Colchester had the better of things.

For the first 20 minutes, Harwich looked stunned and missed too many first-up tackles.

This allowed Colchester to score two tries - one converted - for a quick 12-0 lead, much to the delight of the home supporters.

Harwich, however, clawed their way back into the game, using their dominant scrum, as has been the case all season, to keep Colchester on the back foot and keep a steady supply of ball to impressive fly-half Sean Mills junior.

With all the pressure on their line, Colchester were starting to make mistakes.

From another dominant scrum, Simon Palmer picked and went, dragging three defenders over the line to score an unconverted try.

The game was now up for grabs as Colchester took a 12-5 into half-time.

Harwich started the second half where they left off the first, using their impressive scrum to bully the Colchester pack.

In a repeat of the first half, Palmer again picked and went, running at a retreating Colchester defence to score a converted try, making it 12-12.

Colchester brought the game back to Harwich but with a dominant scrum and loose forwards George Brunning, David Parkin and Palmer tackling their hearts out, they were being kept at bay.

Colchester, to their credit, managed to maintain possession and put the pressure on Harwich, causing the visitors to concede a string of penalties.

From a five-metre line-out, Colchester then managed to maul the ball over the Harwich line to score a try.

With the conversion nearly in front of the posts, Colchester reclaimed the lead, making it 19-12.

Harwich fought back again, using the ball and managing to get it out wide to 18-year-old Josh Newlyn.

The winger scored a great team try in the corner but, with the conversion on target but just short, Harwich still trailed by two points, 19-17.

Harwich continued to throw everything they had at the Colchester defence, which stood firm.

Unfortunately, time ran out for the Harwich side and Colchester celebrated the victory and well-deserved promotion with their home supporters.

In the end, the 12-point start Harwich gave their hosts was the difference between the sides.

Harwich, however, deserve credit for making the game a joy to watch and being in it as long as they were, after only a week's preparation.

They can now enjoy their off-season before launching another attack on promotion.