Beccles Rugby Club will be looking to get off to a good start to the league season when they travel to Wymondham on Saturday.They completed their pre-season preparations with a tough trip to higher-league Colchester.

Beccles Rugby Club will look to get off to a good start to the league season when they travel to Wymondham on Saturday.

They completed their pre-season preparations with a tough trip to higher-league Colchester.

Despite the slightly heavy scoreline, Beccles performed well for 60 minutes before letting Colchester extend their lead at the end to 43-14.

Colchester 43, Beccles 14

Beccles were looking for a tough test to get them ready for their opening league game and travelled to a Colchester side that were promoted from the same league as Beccles last season and had recruited well during the summer.

Beccles gave some of their younger players a chance to impress with Tipple and Carver making their debuts and King making his first start. All three played well and will give the coach some tough choices this season.

The game was tight to begin with. Beccles were dominating the scrum and were battling well into the wind. They were dominating territory but could not find a way through the defence.

When Colchester got their chances they were clinical and this was the difference between the two sides. A loose ball at the back of the line-out saw them break away to score.

They then broke out of their own half in first-half stoppage time to add another. This gave a half-time score of 14-0. Beccles started well in the second half and were still on the scoresheet.

The ball was recycled well and Williamson ran a good line to cut through the Colchester defence to score. Colchester replied with a try.

Rowney was next on the scoresheet when he received the ball out wide on the halfway line. He cut though a tackle and then rounded the last defenders to score. Wade added a good conversion.

Beccles were back within seven points but as they pushed to reduce the deficit Colchester caught them on the break and scored again.

This killed off Beccles' hopes and some sloppy play towards the end of the game saw them concede two more tries to give Colchester a win by 43-14.

Coach Ian Rees was happy with the pre-season efforts with a win and a loss against some tough opposition.