Ninety years after the first season of rugby at Harwich and Dovercourt, the current Harwich side made an impressive start to the latest chapter in the club’s history, running in six tries in their opening Eastern Counties Division One South fixture.

Sunny and clear conditions provided the perfect setting for attacking rugby, and Harwich wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard. Just two minutes into the contest, the home side worked the ball quickly into space before Bradley Durrant finished the move in the corner. The conversion was missed, but Harwich were ahead and had immediately set the tone for the afternoon.

Only three minutes later, Harwich struck again. Andrew Sterry took possession from the scrum-half before releasing Alex Morton, who powered through the defence and over the line. The successful conversion extended Harwich's advantage to 12–0 after just five minutes.

Later in the half, Sterry added his own name to the scoresheet, going over twice as Harwich continued to make the most of their strong start. Both tries were converted, giving the hosts a commanding 26–0 lead at half-time.

Harwich did not have to wait long to add to their tally after the interval. Ryan Bradley showed his pace out wide to beat his defender before racing beneath the posts, leaving Sam Parker a straightforward conversion to extend the lead to 33–0.

On 55 minutes, Harwich added their sixth try through Jack Mulligan. Picking the ball up at the base of a ruck, he spotted a gap in the Woodbridge defence and sniped through to dive over the line. Parker once again added the conversion to make it 40–0.

Woodbridge continued to compete and were rewarded with a consolation try late in the second half, their number 12 finishing an overlap to cross for an unconverted score.

Final score: Harwich & Dovercourt 40–5 Woodbridge
Lewis Curley was named Harwich's Player of the Match as the club began its anniversary campaign with a strong home performance. Harwich return to action at Low Road at 3pm next Saturday, 3 October, when they welcome Halstead Templars.