With a perfect day for some flowing rugby, and a wide pitch to play on, both sides played some excellent rugby throughout the match. Millwall made a strong start with some strong ball carrying from their forward pack, as well as showing some impressive offloading to get the Harwich & Dovercourt defense on the back foot.

Working their way down the field and forcing Harwich & Dovercourt into giving away a few penalties, Millwall were rewarded with a kickable penalty near the visitor's posts. The kick was then missed, but it became very apparent that Millwall were keen to put in a good performance on their temporary home ground for the week.

This kick started Harwich & Dovercourt into the flowing attacking rugby they have worked on all season. With some good quick phase play through the forwards, the ball then worked its way into the back line for some slick handling for Alex Morton to burst through a half tackle and offload to Adam Eldridge to carry on before releasing the ball to debutant Zack Keeley to run in a superb try for the away team.

Harwich & Dovercourt continued to attack from the next kick off but being met by some strong Millwall defence the next 10 minutes resulted in both sides looking for gaps to try and breach each others lines.

With some strong carrying from the Harwich & Dovercourt back row of Leeks, Mills and Slatter, Harwich & Dovercourt were able to force Millwall onto the back foot, again allowing Tom Kite to spread the ball quickly across the backs to Eldridge who was able to break a number of tackles then go over the line to increase Harwich's lead.

Not wanting to be shown up at home, Millwall came straight back at Harwich & Dovercourt from the kick off and with some more impressive forward offloading and hard running, Millwall were then able to use their own attacking threats out wide to then cross the Harwich line for their first score, bringing the first half to an end.

The second half started in much the same way as the first had ended. Both sides playing some very flowing rugby in attack, but with both sides relentlessly defending to stop each other breaking through.

The Harwich & Dovercourt forwards managed to start to make some positive yards with some fantastic handling and offloading through the middle of the park, and with the Millwall defence struggling to get back and cover the width, the ball moved out to Ben Moore in the Harwich & Dovercourt backline to then outpace the remaining defenders to go over for Harwich & Dovercourt's next try.

Millwall again continued to come back at Harwich & Dovercourt and after some great play, spreading the ball from one wing to another, were able to break down the field to get into the Harwich 22, but with some wonderful last ditch tackling, Harwich thought that had done enough to stifle the attack, but with a good carry through the middle, the ball was released quickly again for the Millwall centres to go in under the posts.

With the clock ticking down, the home team went on the hunt for more points again, and even after some frantic and immense defence from Harwich, they found themselves on the backs of a couple of penalties, found themselves being pushed back close to their own line again. From a lineout Millwall were able to again move the ball through the hands and beat the last defender in the corner making the score 19-17.

With the last few minutes, Millwall attacked again and found themselves with a penalty between the half way and the Harwich Line. Wanting to secure a bonus point win they backed their forwards to scrummage and press the Harwich & Dovercourt line and after some strong attacks, Harwich & Dovercourt were able to effect a turnover through Ledua and Leeks to signal the end of the game.

Having secured a narrow hard fought victory, Harwich & Dovercourt now move to 3 wins from 4 and find themselves 3rd in the league with a game in hand over the top two teams. A huge thank you has to go out to Millwall for being incredibly hospitable and playing their part in a good game for both sides.

Harwich & Dovercourt next host Old Brentwoods at the Low road ground on Saturday 30th October, (3 pm KO) to see if they can continue the strong start to the season.

Report by Robert Wood