Norfolk Junior Cup Final.

Beccles Bulls 29-6 Dereham

The Beccles Bulls retained the Norfolk Junior Cup with an emphatic victory at Beef Meadow on Sunday against a spirited Dereham side that stuck to the task for 80 minutes without ever really troubling the home try line.
Dereham's route to the final included victories over sides in the same league as the Bulls, namely Holt, but in reality even though their forwards were abrasive and game, they were never in contention for the trophy the Bulls now consider their own.

The visitors started lively enough and attacked with vigour from the kick-off driving into the Bulls 22 metre area within seconds. However resilient, aggressive defence was to be the differentiator on the day and the Bulls line held firm whatever their visitors contrived to attempt to force a breach.

After weathering the early storm Beccles finally forced Dereham to turn over possession and the game started to ebb the Bulls way. A consistent drive with excellent ball retention enabled the Bulls to march up field and with their first thrust into Dereham's 22-meter area they were rewarded with a Jon Puxley penalty duly converted.

Dereham responded with passion but were soon standing behind their posts again after Darren Ley was driven over from a good distance out to claim an unconverted try. The anticipated fight-back ensued but yet again as soon as Dereham conceded possession to the hungrier Bulls pack they found themselves immediately on the back foot, this time with Jon Hepton crunching over after a lineout close to the visitors try line. Puxley added the conversion to open up a 15-point lead.

From the restart the Bulls attacked but Danny Cracknell was penalised for killing the ball with a sin binning. Dereham knew that if they were ever to break the Bulls down this was going to be their best chance and they threw everything they had against the Beccles line, but to no avail. In the end they had to be content with a drop-goal from their experienced ex-Norfolk fly half Paul Derbyshire as scant reward against 14 men.

With a 15 - 3 deficit at half time the visitors faced an uphill struggle but they added to the score with a penalty from Derbyshire again after 5 minutes of the second half.
He was without doubt their only real threat to the Bulls superiority and try though he might he could not win the game single handedly.

With a mere 7 point differential the tiring Dereham pack could hang onto the belief that they were still in contention but even that hope was crushed when a tap penalty near their try line was handed to a charging Hepton who breached the first line of defence and a quickly rucked ball was popped down the short-side to No8 Andy Warnes who crunched over at knee height to score. Puxley added the conversion to open up a comfortable gap between the 2 sides that effectively killed off the numerous visiting spectators hopes and dreams.

Skipper Owen Hadridge elected at that point to bring on all his replacements with Craig Henderson, Keith Johnstone, Matt Kerry, Darren Maier and Pete Anderson all adding fresh legs. Although this can often be seen as a sign the match is finished, it was not all over as a spectacle as the Bulls saved the best try till last.

Again a strong Beccles forward platform recycled possession through 3 or 4 phases driving into the heart of Dereham territory. The ball was finally spun wide and fast out to the left where diminutive winger Pete Anderson loitered with intent. Free at last to exploit a little space he shimmied in then out his markers attentions before rounding in the corner to sprint over for an excellent try. Puxley effectively concluded proceedings with a touchline conversion to give the final score of 29 - 6.

A late storm on the Beccles try line ensued as Dereham tried to recover some pride, but even when the Bulls were again reduced to 14 men, as Warnes was sin-binned with minutes to go, the Beccles line held firm until the final whistle.

Jubilant skipper Owen Hadridge collected the trophy for the second year running but immediately the team's thoughts turned to their next objective this season, a promotion spot in Eastern Counties League Division 1. With recent form dropping the chance to gain promotion as champions in unlikely but this emphatic win could be just the catalyst the Bulls need to take into the remaining 2 league games against fellow promotion rivals Upper Clapton (away on April 6th) and Stanford-Le-Hope (at Beef Meadow on April 13th) to still win the second automatic promotion slot. Promotion would mean the club moving to new heights with its highest ever league position in the London Division.

"We've got 2 games left and we need to win them both" Hadridge said. "Hopefully, this win will turn our season around. We will have a much needed week off and will then be regrouping after Easter with one thing in mind".

" Promotion is still on, but it's nice that we have guaranteed ourselves something from this season with the Junior Cup". "I'm a happy man," added the Bulls skipper " The boys did well and put in a good performance, but all credit to Dereham. We had to do a lot of work to stop them from scoring and I would think they are a bit disappointed at the scoreline".

Beccles President Martin Spence voiced his support for the team "A great result for the club and town and our heartfelt thanks to the host of spectators and people behind the scenes who made this such a great occasion".

"Let's celebrate our just rewards from the Cup campaign and then restore our emphasis back to the League, " he added. "We must now clearly focus our sights on the next major hurdle this season, our away match at Upper Clapton on April 6th. The club will organise a spectators coach to ensure our side has the best possible support to win promotion and I and the club in general urge all players to ensure we train hard and make the best possible team available for selection". Any interested parties should make contact with either Spence or Chairman Ray Hadridge on the usual numbers.

The final comment was left to Spence, "Please move heaven and earth over this period to make yourselves available for this final push into the London Leagues for the 1st time in our clubs history."

Andy Warnes.

Beccles Press Officer.