Eastern Counties 1

Fakenham 24 - 3 North Walsham 2nd XV

Saturday the 30th September saw Fakenham hosting North Walsham 2nd XV.  Fakenham quickly established their dominance but careless mistakes and silly penalties meant North Walsham were able to kick their way up the pitch and put pressure on the Fakenham line.  Fakenham had learnt the lessons from the game against Norwich Union and their defence against the North Walsham driven maul was solid forcing the away team to settle for a 3 point penalty to open the scoring.  That would prove to be the only points North Walsham would get in the day. 

Fakenham were far stronger in the pack and this reaped it’s reward when they pushed a 5 meter scrum up to the line and Howard Kellock touched down a simple score from 8.  Incisive runs from Fakenhams back three of George Ready, Brett Stolworthy and Murray Tindall meant Fakenham kept the pressure on the Walsham side.  The next score came when captain Tom Bane Young made a looping run across the pitch, drawing in the North Walsham winger and giving a clean pass for Tindall to score unopposed.  The half time score was 12-3.

Starting the second half Walsham improved their defence making it harder for Fakenham to break their lines but composed play meant the home side scored two further trys through Jim Wells and a second from Tindall.  North Walsham played a hard game and had some excellent runs of their own but on the day Fakenham were the more complete team and deserved the bonus point win.  The game ended 24-3 keeping 

Eastern Counties 1(n

Norwich Medics 0 - 33 Fakenham

Fakenham visited Norwich Medics for the 5th league game of the season.  Norwich medics started the stronger of the two sides and were aggressive and fluent in attack.  For the first 20 minutes Fakenham stuttered going forward but their defense was once again solid and the medics were unable to capitalise on the possession and territory.

Eventually Fakenham settled into their game and began to run some phases with forwards taking it into contact, recycling the ball and allowing the backs to get the scoreboard ticking over.  Determined running by Jordi Walker set the pace but it was Murray Tindall who grounded 2 trys in the first half, converted by Tom Bane Young.  One of these was a fantastic run in from near the half way line evading the Medics wing and full back to score under the uprights.

The Norwich Medics side started the second half with renewed energy but the Fakenham defense were again a match for their attack.  With the Medics pack beginning to tire the Fakenham forwards took advantage.  The Fakenham pack started to turn over rucks and make more yards running with the ball but the dominance was most evident in a scrum that was driven 15 meters to allow Howard Kellock to score from the back.  The next try again came on the back of strong forwards play tying in the Medics defence before Josh Gee displayed his strength of running taking the ball at full speed and breaking tackles to score under the posts.  The final try developed similar to that before it but this time the ball was spun wide allowing Murray Tindall to coast in for this third of the day and sealing his Man of the Match performance.

Fakenham 2nd XV travelled to Holt to play their 3rd XV, a tough encounter which was lost 50 - 5.  Fakenham played well despite having only 13 men available to play and were able to create some excellent opportunities, giving a good Holt side a close run in the forwards.  The Fakenham try was scored by their man of the match, George Loades.