MISTLEY Rugby Club took the honours in a hard-fought match against Haverhill, in the preliminary round of the Suffolk Plate at Furze Hill.

Although Haverhill are in a different league, any encounter with them in cup games is always close and this game was no exception.

Last season Mistley won 26-23.

The ground was hard and the inclement weather added to the hot conditions.

The Mistley team was a mixture of first and Marauder players and their hard work during pre-season paid dividends, in addition to their fitness sessions at BusyBody's Fitness in Manningtree.

The game started well for Mistley and, within the first two minutes, a terrific run from Kyle Fox, who had an excellent game, and Dicky Johnson enabled Matt Aspinall to score a try that was converted by Matt Course.

A penalty then pushed the score to 10-0.

Haverhill began to fight back and, as the Mistley scrum faltered, losing against the head, the Suffolk side responded with a penalty kick and a try to reduce the deficit to 10-8.

Superb tackling from Reece Kirkham and brilliant play from Jack Tompkins and Fox kept the pressure on and a further penalty kick from Course pushed the score to 13-8.

However, missed opportunities hampered any further success as the visitors defended well.

Within a minute of the second half, Course missed a difficult penalty and further missed opportunities did not help Mistley's cause.

Will Vine was given a yellow card for a high tackle and play became scrappy and ill-disciplined.

Course scored again with another penalty but, even at 16-8, Mistley knew they had a fight on their hands as Haverhill kept up their immense pressure.

The Suffolk responded with a penalty and at 16-11 with 15 minutes to go, Stephen Betts was sent off following a yellow card, together with a Haverhill player.

The result of the scuffle was a penalty awarded to Mistley and Course kicked superbly to increase the lead to 19-11.

Fox came off with an injury, as well as Johnson, as Haverhill fought back.

Despite excellent tackling from Kirkham and Aspinall, Mistley could not hold off the Haverhill onslaught, which enabled them to score and end the game at 19-18.

Mistley captain Nick Graves was delighted with the victory but impressed upon the team the need for more training.

Fox was named man-of-the-match, which was well deserved, and Course scored a total of 14 points.

This weekend Mistley have their first away league game against Mersea and the Marauders are at home against Mersea Island seconds.

These games will be sponsored by Ilecs Lift and Escalator Consultants of Mistley, who have generously assisted the club by donating towards new kit. Both matches kick off at 3pm.

In addition, an open day will be held on Sunday at 10am at Furze Hill for any young boys and girls who want to play rugby for Mistley.