North Walsham left shocked as walls of fortress Scottow are breached

North Walsham saw their perfect home record ended in a high scoring encounter in the Scottow sunshine.

Colchester scored eight of the 12 tries, marshalled by outstanding fly-half David Higgins, who scored 22 points.

Walsham were ahead 14-6 after the first quarter, with tries from Jacques Olivier and Will Hodgson, both converted by David Treglown.

However, they were guilty of giving away a string of penalties at the breakdown. Higgins had converted two of these before Vikings' wing Sam Rhodes was sent to the sin bin. During his absence the well-drilled visitors scored three tries through James Mitchell, David Brennan and Callum Irvine, Higgins converted two and saw a drop goal attempt come back off the posts.

Walsham flankers Chris Godwin and Ryan Oakes then left the field with injuries.

Prop Aki Downing continued his storming game at blind side, allowing Stuart Loose on from the bench for his 450th appearance in the green and black, and Ashley Speight his debut on the open side. Colchester wing Brennan took his second converted try on 34 minutes, before Rhodes touched down for Walsham, Treglown pulling the conversion wide, for a half-time tally of 19-32.

Two minutes into the second period, Walsham went over the line, but Rhodes had put a foot in touch along the way.

However Olivier scored a minute later, for Treglown to convert, and take the fourth try bonus point, bringing the score to 26-32.

Colchester went on to add another four tries in the second half, proving their title credentials.