BRAINTREE RUFC will be looking for a little bit of Christmas cheer this weekend.

They suffered an 11th straight defeat last weekend in a 17-10 reverse against bottom side Old Cooperians, which saw the Black and Ambers fall to the bottom of the London League division two north east table.

Joint first-team coach Brian Joslin said: “We were hoping to build on our much better display against Saffron Walden but we were unable to attain the same level of performance.

“We struggled to exert control at the breakdown where they had the upper hand and we seemed to get constantly penalised by the ref.

“Our set piece work was still pretty good and a number of players did well individually, including Josh Hine, Joss Adams, Mark Loftus and Joe Young, but as a team we were lacking again.”

Things don’t get any easier for Braintree when they entertain Enfield Ignatians and their massive pack at Robbs Wood today in their final game before the Christmas break.

In division three north east, CLACTON will hope to bounce back from their 77-0 defeat at Upminster when they host Old Brentwoods today.

In Eastern Counties division one, MERSEA ISLAND will be looking to get back to winning ways when they travel to Ipswich YM.

Shane Manning has urged his Harwich & Dovercourt players to keep the heat on leaders Colchester at the top of the table.

Harwich are second in the Eastern Counties division two south table, heading into their final game of the calendar year, this weekend.

They host lowly Thorpeness at Wick Lane, who have only one league win to their name all season and lie second from bottom in the table.

Head coach Manning believes it is vital his side maintain their form, to give themselves a fighting chance of overhauling their six-point deficit on the leaders.

Manning said: “Every game from now on will be exactly the same for us, in terms of importance.

“I won’t take any notice of Thorpeness’s league position – if I did then the players might too and we could come off second best. We’re expecting our opponents to play out of their skins but we have to concentrate on what we do.

“We’re hoping that Colchester will slip up but it’s unlikely that they will. The pressure is on us a bit because we have to win every single game.

“We have to keep winning until we play them in March.”

Colchester’s second team are without a fixture today but division rivals MISTLEY travel to Ipswich YM seconds.

BRIGHTLINGSEA are also on their travels when they visit Hadleigh.