Beccles 13 Cantabrigans 3

Beccles Bulls had a winning start to the New Year with a win against Cantabrigans in Eastern Counties Division1. Despite struggling to shake off their Christmas hangovers they managed to grind out a win by 14-3.
Beccles had been without a game for four weeks and they had all of their players back from injury and available for selection. Hinsley stuck with the same side that beat Lowestoft but brought Moon in on the bench.
Beccles were slow to start and the opposition came at them hard keen to have a go at the league leaders. The Beccles defence was as solid as usual and they started to play their way in to the game. The Bulls took the lead with an Arnold penalty but Cantabrigans soon replied with a penalty of their own. The game never really had any rhythm to it with a referee determined to uphold all the laws of the game. This lead to few scoring chances but Beccles were able to add one more penalty before halftime, again from Arnold. This gave a score of 6-3 at halftime.
In the second half Cantabrigans hardly threatened the Beccles line, all the pressure came from the Bulls. However, they found it difficult to break down the defence of the opposition. Arnold added another penalty but Beccles needed a try to make the lead safe. In the end the forwards came up with a score. From a scrum in the opponents twenty two the pack put the nudge on their opponents enabling Thomas the platform to pick up and sidestep his way over the line.
Beccles closed the game out easily after this with the Beccles backline easily coping with any threat the opposition caused. Despite not playing at their best Beccles continued their unbeaten streak to stay top of the league. Their next league game is on the 21st January away at Newmarket, they will be hoping to be back on their pre-Christmas form by then.

Keith Johnstone Beccles Press Officer