Harwich and Dovercourt 31 Hadleigh 12

As it was also treated as a Suffolk Plate double header it also means Harwich are through to the next round of the cup.

Right from the off Harwich were, mentally, a different side to the one that lost at home to bottom of the league Thurston. There was a sense of urgency and determination to get the job done. However, it took Harwich 15 minutes before they made any inroads into the tough Hadliegh defence when, man of the match, Sam Male slotted over a penalty to ease Harwich nerves. After that Harwich began to take control but on too many occasions the ball was dropped or knocked on with tries begging.

On 25 minutes Harwich's pressure told when after a drive Ed Mayhew fed the ball to Richard Woods who drove on himself before the ball came to Jay Hatcher to notch up a try. with Male kicking superbly Harwich were 10-0 up. And despite Harwich's best efforts and some stout defending by Hadleigh this is how it remained at half time.

Within a minute of the restart Hariwch were further ahead when Hatcher made an amazing run through the middle of the pitch. He fed the ball to Sean Mills whose pass put Nick Faliveno in to score. With Male converting Harwich now had daylight between them and the opposition. 2 minutes later Harwich extended their lead when Hatcher made another drive he fed the ball to prop Clark Simpson who performed like a winger giving and taking passes down the wing before scoring superbly in the corner. With Male converting again Harwich were now 24-0 up.

In need of the bonus point Harwich kept pressing but Hadleigh weren't about to give in. However, with 20 minutes to go Faliveno made a break from his own half and fed the ball to Male who scored a well deserved try by the posts. With Male converting his own score Harwich had the bonus point and looked safe at 31-0 up.

But like so many games before this is when Harwich took their foot off the pedal and let Hadleigh back into the game. On 35 minutes their superb fullback made a great break to score a converted try and a few minutes later a series of missed tackles allowed Hadliegh another try to bring the score back to 31-12. This is how the score remained but at least gave Harwich the satisfaction of winning two games on one day.