HARWICH and Dovercourt Rugby Club welcomed Writtle Wanderers to Low Road for their first game of the New Year and won 17-5.

The teams were placed sixth and fifth respectively, but the game earlier in the season was one-sided and resulted in a comfortable victory for Writtle.

However, this was always going to be a different contest, with the away team only managing to field a bare 15 players.

Things got worse for them after three or four minutes as their openside flanker was knocked unconscious and required hospital treatment.

Once the player was attended to and made comfortable waiting for an ambulance, the referee moved the game to an adjoining pitch.

The game restarted and Harwich worked their way into the opponents' 22-metre area.

An infringement by Writtle gave winger Adam Eldridge a simple conversion in front of the posts.

The home team played some good rugby, retaining the ball and recycling it for the backs to have a run.

Despite creating some scoring opportunities, poor handling at vital moments stopped more points being scored.

Eventually, following some good work by the forwards, centre Elliott Hawken, with a strong, powerful run, was able to shrug his opposing centre off and steam over the line for the first try.

Eldridge popped over the easy conversion.

Writtle played some good rugby and put their hosts under a lot of pressure.

They got over the line but the referee judged a second movement by the player, giving a very relieved home team a clearing kick to touch.

The second half saw Writtle force themselves back into the game, putting their hosts under a lot of pressure.

With Adam Palmer giving way to Kyle Hutchins at half-time, the impressive Eldridge moved to full-back with Hutchins taking his place on the wing.

Despite some good attacking moves, Harwich continued to make passing errors, making them a little nervous with only a slender lead.

To make matters worse, their visitors put a good move together, resulting in the left winger scoring in the corner.

Unfortunately, the conversion was missed, leaving Harwich with just a five-point lead.

The game was then littered with mistakes, giving neither side supremacy.

The deciding moment arrived when the ball was scooped up by second row forward Kyran Green.

He began his run from the opponents' ten-metre line, with a good turn of speed, which seemed to surprise the visitors.

He made it under the posts easily for an excellent try.

Eldridge made the easy conversion.

Despite some late pressure from their opponents and a couple of yellow cards for both sides in the last few minutes, Harwich emerged winners.

Rob Page deserves a mention. His tackling and general play, keeping a dangerous winger on the visitors' left wing quiet, was crucial in providing an excellent win for Harwich.