BECCLES 20 – FAKENHAM 3

Beccles Bulls made a winning start to their Eastern Counties Division 1 match against Fakenham on Saturday. Despite struggling in the scrum the Bulls dominated the rest of the game play and finished comfortable winners by 20-3.
The Bulls started the match the strongest. They won a lot of good lineout ball which gave the backs freedom to attack. A kick through by Payne was recovered by the Beccles pack and Thomas was left free to touch down in the corner. The conversion was missed by Holm but he soon added a penalty to increase the score. There were two further tries in the first half, one of which was converted. Hadridge scored the first when he burrowed over from the back of a ruck. The second try was the best of the match. Beccles retained the ball through a number phases and eventually the defence was stretched allowing Hinsley to touch down. This gave a half time score of 20-3.
Fakenham had their best spell after half time. They had a big, well drilled pack and Beccles were struggling to win any ball in the scrums. Fakenham had the Bulls camped on their own line for a ten minute spell. However, the Bulls showed they are going to be a hard team to break down this season with some superb last gasp tackling. Rix in particular showed he is a hard man to get past and his all round display saw him made the White Horse man of the match.
Beccles finally cleared their lines and the rest of the match was played out in the middle of the park. The Fakenham forwards were tiring but neither team could hold on to the ball long enough to add to the scoring. In the end, apart from one ten minute spell, the Bulls line was never really threatened and the comfortably finished the match winning 20-3.
The second XV also started their season away at Broadland. They managed to put out a strong side which looks good for the club. Unfortunately the match had to be abandoned in the second half when debutant Demierre dislocated his knee. Beccles were losing 10-0 at the time but were starting to mount a comeback.
This was a good start for the Bulls against one of the stronger teams in the league. They will now try and iron out a few early season problems so they can have a strong push for promotion.

Keith Johnstone Beccles Press Officer