Barnes stormer leads TJs again

■By ED MARRIAGE

Colchester…………..26

Tonbridge J…………48

TONBRIDGE Juddians made it two wins from two as they beat National League 2 new boys Colchester on the Raven Park 4G pitch, Curtis Barnes scoring a hat-trick of tries for the second straight week.

The Kent side showed why they are among the favourites for promotion to level 3, outscoring Colchester seven tries to four.

But Colchester were vastly improved from the side which lost heavily at Canterbury the previous week. Early in the second half they were only 19-24 adrift and a first try bonus point suggests they may trouble a few sides this season.

In front of a sizeable crowd, Jonah Varela opened the scoring for the home side, but TJs soon showed their class with four unanswered tries by Charlie Self, George Merrick and two from Barnes to secure their bonus point before the half-hour.

Connor O’Reilly and Scott Lloyd scored tries for Colchester either side of the break. But Barnes completed his hat-trick before Francois Rossouw scored with his first touch after coming on for his 50th Colchester cap.

Thirteen points from the boot of Sam Evans, who scored TJ’s sixth try, and a further score by Tom Kendrick wrapped it up.