With Witham 2nds bottom of the table and Basildon 3rds in second place, the visitors probably expected an easier day than they were given. Opening exchanges were even with both sides using their forwards to gain ground. The first breakthrough when Witham had used Darren Smith and Peter Conway to push Basildon back before releasing the backs with Sam Holloway bursting through tackles to score. As Basildon gained some momentum and territory, some great pressure from the Witham defence saw an interception by Mike Hill, who outsprinted the chasing defenders to score his first try for Witham. Basildon were getting frustrated but made enough ground for their forwards to force their way over the line. Using, the same tactics, they managed to draw level with another unconverted try. As the half came to a close, a quick miss pass by Lea Chesson released Ian Mellor who scored under the posts. The conversion by Daz Chesson gave a 17-10 lead to Witham at the break.
Basildon started the second half with purpose and used their bigger pack to their advantage. However, they were thwarted by some determined defence from the home side. However, some enforced changes did not help and eventually, the visitors closed the gap to 2 points with a good try. A scrappy period of play followed as Witham tried to mount an attack but a huge clearance kick opened up the space for Basildon to take the lead. A very late try gave Basildon a healthy looking 29-17 victory but Witham are getting ever closer to a deserved first victory of the season.