Holt kicked off their first home game of the 2026/27 season, delayed because of the long, dry summer, and welcomed Colchester II to Bridge Road.

The faithful Holt crowd duly arrived to support the team. Amazingly, despite the damage caused by the drought, the pitches looked in reasonable condition, although some areas are still a little brown and, unsurprisingly, very dry. Credit must go to everyone involved in getting them playable.

Several new faces in the Holt ranks were testament to Holt’s fantastic youth development programme. Once again, credit to all those involved in bringing these young and exciting players through from the junior ranks.

In the absence of injured captain Mel Gilmour, Pete Medler led Holt out.

Colchester kicked off, Medler catching cleanly and responding with an up-and-under. Colchester attempted to run the ball back, but Holt stole possession, with Taylor Gowing powering through the Colchester defence before knocking on.

A Colchester scrum 35 metres out saw them spread the ball wide and make good ground, until a breakdown almost on the Holt line gave Holt the opportunity to steal possession and clear their lines to the 22.

From the lineout, Colchester again tried to run at the Holt defence but knocked on, giving Holt a scrum on the 22. Medler again put up a high kick, but Colchester caught it cleanly and charged straight back, earning a lineout on their own 5-metre line.

Winning the lineout, Holt’s pack demonstrated the beginning of what would become total dominance in the set piece, driving out of their own 22. However, a breakdown on the Holt 10-metre line saw Colchester regain possession. They spread the ball wide and eventually outflanked the Holt defence to score in the corner. The conversion was missed.

7 mins — Holt 0–5 Colchester

Holt’s restart went straight into touch, giving Colchester a scrum on halfway. Holt powered forward and drove Colchester off the ball, advancing deep into their territory before Colchester managed to steal possession and clear back to halfway.

A mistake in midfield saw Joe Plant, playing in the centre, gain possession for Holt. He chipped ahead and Henry Lyon won the race to touch down in the corner. Medler added the conversion.

14 mins — Holt 7–5 Colchester

An intense 20 minutes of rugby followed, with both sides attempting to breach the other’s defence. Much of the play took place in the Holt half. Tom Lockhart, Taylor Gowing, Richie Mann, Spike Soan and Logan Price all made good, solid runs, but repeatedly found themselves running out of support after making valuable yards.

Medler cleared Holt’s lines with a penalty into touch on the Colchester 10-metre line. Holt won the lineout, and Will Allen chipped ahead, only for Colchester to gather and break through the Holt defence to score. The conversion was successful.

32 mins — Holt 7–12 Colchester

Spike Soan limped off and was replaced by Louis Chapman.

Colchester kicked the restart back towards Holt, where Medler received cleanly just outside the 22. He kept the ball in hand, running straight through the Colchester defence before linking with Gowing, who made further ground. This time the support was there, in the shape of Chris Dack, who went over for Holt’s second try. Medler added the extras.

35 mins — Holt 14–12 Colchester

Jamie Buckingham, Gowing, Allen and Price all linked from the restart to drive Colchester back. However, from a scrum on the 10-metre line, Colchester somehow regained possession, spread the ball wide and, once again, outflanked the Holt defence to score. The conversion was good.

40 mins — Holt 14–19 Colchester

Half Time

A good chase from the restart saw Holt awarded a penalty on the Colchester 10-metre line. Medler overcooked his attempt to gain extra yards and missed touch, allowing Colchester to counter-attack back to halfway.

Holt regained possession and, through several phases, drove back into the Colchester 22 before knocking on just five metres from the line.

The Holt scrum once again drove Colchester backwards, and scrum-half Richie Mann finished the move by going over for the try. Medler added the conversion.

44 mins — Holt 21–19 Colchester

Holt attacked from the restart but lost possession. Colchester surged forward but also lost the ball, giving Holt a scrum on their own 22.

A Holt breakout from defence gained good ground back into the Colchester 22. Continuing to move the ball through the hands, Holt eventually found Chapman in space, and Louis dutifully crossed for Holt’s fourth try and bonus point. Medler kicked the extras.

49 mins — Holt 28–19 Colchester

Colchester, however, were clearly not beaten. From the restart they powered forward, overwhelmed the Holt defence and, after several phases, went over for their fourth try. The conversion was good.

51 mins — Holt 28–26 Colchester

Taylor Gowing produced yet another powerful, defence-splitting break, surging forward before being forced into touch around 10 metres from the Colchester line.

Colchester knocked on, giving Holt a scrum. Once again, the Holt scrum destroyed the Colchester pack, with Gowing seizing the loose ball and crashing over for a well-deserved try — Holt’s fifth. Medler added the extras.

57 mins — Holt 35–26 Colchester

As in the first half, the game settled into a constant attack-and-counter-attack spectacle, highly entertaining for the large crowd.

Once again, the usual suspects in black made continuous breaks, but too often ran out of support, became isolated and were turned over, creating attacking opportunities for Colchester.

Eventually, however, Holt managed to retain possession for long enough to drive Colchester deep into their own half. Chapman made the decisive break before offloading to prop Chris Dack, who crossed for his second try and Holt’s sixth. Medler was on target once more.

75 mins — Holt 42–26 Colchester

Colchester attacked immediately from the restart, winning a penalty just inside the Holt 22. They kicked to the corner, won the lineout and crashed over for their fifth try. The conversion was successful.

78 mins — Holt 42–33 Colchester

Holt had one more chance, driving Colchester back from the restart and deep into their 22. Colchester infringed, giving Holt a penalty around 15 metres out.

Holt chose to kick to the lineout rather than tap and go, but unfortunately the lineout was not executed cleanly and Colchester cleared their lines.

Holt then knocked on around halfway, giving Colchester a scrum. Holt turned the scrum, Medler hoofed the ball into touch, and the referee brought an entertaining game to an end and to provide Holt 1st XV with their first win in 707 days. Congratulation to all the players, coaches and management who have never given up through out this difficult episode in the clubs history, the credit goes to them all.

Full Time

Holt RFC 42–33 Colchester II

Holt Tries
Chris Dack × 2
Henry Lyon
Richie Mann
Louis Chapman
Taylor Gowing
Conversions
Pete Medler × 6
Man of the Match

Tom Lockhart & Chris Dack

Dick of the Day

Charlie Gill

A thoroughly entertaining game, played in great spirits by both teams.

A deserved win for Holt, who at times played some very good rugby, with the youngsters at the forefront of the performance. A lack of experience was apparent at times, but that will come with game time.

Other Holt Results

Holt 2nds travelled to Southwold but unfortunately came away with a defeat.

Holt 3rds played Crusaders 2nds and romped home 66–40.

2nds MOTM: George Butcher
3rds MOTM: Jake Sayers
3rds DOTD: Tom Dye