As seems the usual manner with Hadleigh Rams over the last few seasons, they were slow out of the blocks.

Brightlingsea were quicker and more aggressive at every breakdown scrapping for ball after ball and releasing their back row runners while 

Hadleigh sat back seemingly as spectators. A long list of half-hearted tackles and missed opportunities when kicking the ball away looked ominous for the Rams as Brightlingsea started scoring at each attack. 

Added to this the Brightlingsea scrum was also piling on the pressure which gave their runners front foot advantage on the breaks they had.

With Hadleigh's persistence for running into blocked traffic it looked like a cricket score was on the cards when the referee blew for half time at 5 - 33.

During the interval, from the sidelines it sounded as though Hadleigh's coach, Adam Miles had a lot to say about the first half performance but whatever it was that he said, it seemed to spark a reaction as the second half got under way.

With a few tweaks and changes to the limited available personnel Hadleigh started to apply pressure in the scrums and also started to read the game more accurately.

With a hefty and mobile centre partnership of Hall and Unwin now constantly being fed from Jamerson and Redmore, the Rams started to punch holes in the Brightlingsea defense and it wasn't long before that partnership along with great back-up play paid dividends.

Brightlingsea were getting rattled by the sudden turn around and their frustration started to show with two yellow cards following on from each other.

The Rams now had the upper hand and with their scrum going forward, the back row and centres were smashing through the Brightlingsea lines at nearly every move.

No kicking was wasted and the break downs were now sealed up and producing good feeds for the sharp number nine to distribute.

Hadleigh now had an eagerness and purpose about them and they fought for every ball. With only eight minutes left to play Hadleigh scored to win the game 36 - 33.

Hadleigh Rams team sheet:

1. Fox

2. Cook

3. Stiff

4. Haywood

5. Stokes

6. Scarfe

7. Lloyd

8. Kerr

9. Jamerson

10. Redmore

11. Moore

12. Hall

13. Unwin

14. Johnston

15. O'Halloran

16. Wright

17. Janse Van Rensburg