Beccles Bulls 22-19 Upper Clapton

Eastern Counties1

8/12/01

The Bulls maintained their position in contention near the top of Eastern Counties Division 1 with a win, which although by the narrowest of margins, was never in real doubt as their visitors Upper Clapton had to play 'catch-up' rugby for most of the match.

The usual re-shuffle , this time the Bulls played without Puxley at fly half , meant that Beccles stuttered to life and only occasionally delivering the style of play they are capable of. In reality it was during once such 20-minute spell towards the end of the 1st half that they killed of Upper Clapton by scoring 3 tries without response.

Their visitor's mid-table position and goal differential indicated they conceded little and they emerged as a well-drilled , tidy outfit. Typically 'Essex-style' forwards coupled with direct running three-quarters and they certainly rocked the Bulls back on their heels from the kick-off , retaining possession and threatening the home try line in the opening minutes. Luckily cool headed defence from the Bulls thwarted their efforts and after a brief spell of calming play the hosts were 1st on the score board when a quickly taken tap-penalty 10 meters off the visitors try line was spun to No8 Warnes to crunch over at knee height. With usual kicker Puxley missing the conversion was not added , a fact that made the game tighter than it needed to be.

Upper Clapton replied quite quickly with a converted try but this was to be their only time in the lead for the rest of the match and it was short lived. The Bulls attacked the re-start with a passion and soon found themselves on the visitors try line again. After a forward drive was stopped inches from a try a quick recycle would have almost certainly lead to a score. Unfortunately a cynical handling offence from the Upper Clapton 2nd row killed the play but with referee Andy Watson in charge the offending party was spotted and sin-binned. This well positioned adjudication set the tone for the rest of the match and a free flowing game ensued, hampered it must be said only by the handling limitations of both sides. From the penalty Beccles opted for a scrummage and although this failed to lead directly to a try the sustained period of pressure eventually allowed flanker Darren Ley through to touch down under the posts. Jon Payne added the conversion.

For the next 20 or so minutes it was all Beccles as first full-back Matt Kerry scythed through down the blind side of a scrum for a chip and chase try and then centre Dilly Dawson rampaged through the midfield to claim his own. Unfortunately neither was converted but this meant the half time score of 22 - 7 left all the work to the visitors. Upper Clapton could in fact count themselves lucky as the Bulls could easily have scored at least 2 more but for simple handling errors with the try line beckoning.

Unfortunately the Bulls failed to recreate this vein of form in the 2nd half and it turned into a rather stilted affair with neither side creating many real chances in the 3rd quarter. Warnes crossed again for the Bulls only to be rightly judged as a 'double-movement' before Upper Clapton realised they had to do something extraordinary if they were to salvage this match and any chance they have this season for a promotion. With the clock ticking they produced probably their best rugby and hammered into the home side both with forward drives and some explosive running wide out from their full back. They managed to pull back into the game with 2 tries , 1 converted to bring them within a hairsbreadth of success , but it was all too little too late as Watson whistled the match to a close with the Bulls then driving their way up field from the restart. As the old pundits say, certainly a 'game of 2 halves!'

Andy Warnes.

Beccles Press Officer.