RUGBY: Southend Saxons continued their surge for the Regional Two Anglia title with an 83-17 win against Dagenham.

The victory was Southend’s 15th in succession.

And director of rugby Josh Ward was delighted with how his table-topping team performed.

“We were delighted with how we played,” said Ward.

“The intent and tempo we played with was outstanding and we never let up.

“We scored 13 tries and the reality is it could have been four or five more.

“We started really well and got a good platform, winning the gain-line and we executed things really well.”

However, there was a slight lull in the performance before the break.

“We probably had a 10 to 15 minute patch in the first half where we maybe got a little bit ahead of ourselves”, said Ward.

“We were forcing play a little bit and missed out on a few points.

“If we were a bit more patient and accurate in that spell we would’ve got more points.”

The victory kept Southend six points clear of second placed Eton Manor.

But it was not just the result which pleased Ward.

“The scoreline is nice but it was the performance we really wanted,” said Ward.

“We’re firm believers that if we get the performance right the scoreline takes care of itself and it certainly did on Saturday. “Defensively it’s always disappointing to concede points.

“We conceded three very soft tries but we won’t let that overshadow what was a good attacking performance.”

“We played well and it gives us a good platform going into a difficult month.”

Attention now turns to Saturday’s trip to eighth placed Chelmsford.

The match sees both club’s director of rugby taking on their former team.

And Ward is expecting a physical contest.

“It will definitely be a challenge and they will be well and truly up for it,” said Ward.

“There’s recent history between the clubs with Chris Green over there as well.

“I’ve only got positive things to say about the club.

“I have a lot of happy memories there and really appreciate my time there.

“It’s the same for Sid (Hoult) and Tom Day but ultimately we’ve got a job to do. “ And Ward believes Saxons are more than capable of getting another good result.

“We’re confident in the way that they’re playing,” said Ward.

“We know that it will be a massively physical battle we have to overcome but there’s huge belief that if we turn up in the right mindset not many teams are living with our attacking capabilities at the moment.

“We hope that’s the same on Saturday.”

Elsewhere, Westcliff and Rochford Hundred were both beaten in Regional One South East.

Bottom of the table Westcliff lost 57-15 at league leaders Colchester while second from bottom Rochford were beaten 50-20 at Shelford.

Rochford are now nine points behind Tring who sit just above the drop zone while Westcliff are a further five points behind.

In Counties Two Essex (South), table topping Basildon lost 19-17 at home to second placed Old Brentwoods who are now just a point behind their hosts.

Billericay are third after beating Millwall 27-19 while fifth placed Canvey Island lost by the same score-line to Kings Cross Steelers.