NORWICH 32 – BECCLES 0

Despite losing to Norwich in the Norfolk Cup Beccles put in one of their most impressive performances of the season. Playing a side three divisions higher than them they matched their opponents for long periods of the game. In the end the Norwich experience told and they pulled away to win the game 32-0.
Hinsley had a strong side to pick from, with only a few changes from the previous game. Wade replaced Squirrell in the centre with Gedney returning on the wing. Hall came in at scrum-half.
The Bulls were looking to cause a big upset and tore into Norwich from the first whistle. The Beccles back row of Hinsley, Thomas and Rix were all over the park disrupting the Norwich play. Hinsley was superb throughout the game and was made the White Horse Man of the Match. They were helped by some ferocious tackling from Payne, Arnold and Johnstone.
Despite the gap in the league standings of the two teams Beccles more than matched their opponents at the set piece. The front row of Danny Rix, Lake and Ling stood up well to their more experienced opposition, pushing them back on a number of occasions. Wilson dominated in the lineout providing a safe option to retain possession.
Beccles were on top for the first thirty minutes but couldn’t take any of the chances they created. Norwich began to slowly work their way in to the game. They scored two penalties before adding a converted try. This made the score 13-0 at halftime.
In the second half Norwich had more of the play. They added three more tries, two of which came from rolling mauls which Beccles found hard to counteract. The Beccles team created more chances but could not find a way past the Norwich defence. However, they never gave up and had Norwich under a lot of pressure in the final minutes. When the final whistle went the score was 32-0.
Beccles can take a lot of pride from this performance as the majority of the Norwich team have played at a high level for a number of years. Beccles can now concentrate on the league and if they can maintain this sort of form they will have a really good chance of winning the league and returning to the London Leagues next year.
The next game is against Thurston on Saturday. There is a VP’s lunch before hand for anybody who is interested (Contact Paddy 715805) and the game kicks off at 2:15PM

Keith Johnstone Beccles Press Officer