HARRISON Friswell bagged a try on his first team debut but could not stop Southend Saxons suffering a frustrating 23-18 defeat at Shelford.

Friswell, who has been at Southend for the past two seasons, helped Saxons establish a narrow 15-13 lead at half-time.

But, despite his try, the youngster remained disappointed not to have won.

“It was very pleasing to score the try and there was a mixture of relief that I’d actually managed to get over the line and excitement when it happened,” said Friswell, who turned 20 on Sunday.

“It was great when someone who’s been your coach for so many years (Danny Cleare) and has taught you so much is the person to make to last pass to put you away to score.

“But it was obviously frustrating we didn’t get the victory.

“I think that we’d back ourselves to win that game nine times out of 10 and after the first half it looked like we were set to do so.

“However, things didn’t go right for us in the second half.

“We rushed our attack and forced things meaning we weren’t accurate with how or where we wanted to play the game.

“Our exits were rushed and we put ourselves under added pressure and seemed to dig ourselves a hole we couldn’t get out of in the end.”

As a result, Shelford were able to end Southend’s three match winning streak.

But the Saxons still sixth in the National Three London & SE standings.

And Friswell - who normally lines up at fly-half or full-back - is now seeking more opportunities with the first team.

“My main aim now is to continue to develop and improve at the same rate that I have been doing since pre season,” said the former Seevic College student.

“Hopefully I can try and get some more minutes in the first team and show my worth maybe in a more natural position but these things can take time and I’m fully aware of that.

“I’m just really happy to have made my debut because it’s something I’ve been working towards and waiting for for a while now so was nice to get out there.

“The intensity and physicality of the game was very high and something that I’d have to get used to.

“But generally I felt quite comfortable and confident out there especially with the quality of my team-mates who were around me.”

Southend’s director of rugby Danny Cleare scored Southend’s other try against Shelford while Iain Meads kicked Saxons’ remaining points.

George Griffiths, 17, also made his first team debut as a late replacement for Friswell.

Southend Saxons: Meads, Friswell, Murphy, Cleare, Driver, Vaughan, Gould, Strachan, Bloomberg, Bailey, Court-Rhind, Fombo, Shields, Morrison, Leavasa Replacements: Day-White, Smith & Griffiths