Witham took a mixture of old boys and debutants to Benfleet for the season opener. The hosts kicked off and put Witham under pressure from the start. Their young backs had plenty of pace and used it well. A chip and chase by their fly half opened the scoring. Benfleet realised they had the edge in open play and exploited it to open up a comfortable lead. The Witham pack was working well and once they were in the Benfleet half, were able to drive towards the line. Rich Miller picked up from a scrum 10 metres out and was halted short of the line. Alex Beer took over and was within inches of the line. Adam Scott-mason spun the ball out to John Cox who found Ian Piper in space to score. At half time the score was 26-5 with Witham needing to make changes.

The second half saw Witham winning scrums but lacking runners to take advantage. Benfleet on the other hand were finding willing runners regularly and extended their lead. As Witham tired, late tries enabled Benfleet to end with a 64-5 victory.

Whilst a frustrating day, Witham saw superb debuts by Josh Twin (man of the match), James Harrison, Isaac Wenmouth and Harry Byrne. Captain Alex Beer said " we were well beaten today but come away knowing we have 4 great new players. Our effort deserved more reward but we go to Chelmsford next week with some lessons learnt"