CRUSADERS 9 BECCLES 8

Beccles were unlucky not to record an away victory over local rival Crusaders. Beccles had lead throughout the game but a controversial late penalty saw them go down by 9 points to 8.
Beccles had a strong squad and selected a big front row in Rix, Wilson and Ling to enable them to dominate the set piece. Arnold was playing his last game for the club before flying off to New Zealand.
Beccles started the game fast and surged deep in to the opponents 22. After a strong scrummage by the forwards Sale fed the ball to Thomas who crashed over the line for a try. The conversion was missed so Beccles led 5-0.
Crusaders worked their way in to the game and began to put pressure on the Beccles line. The Beccles defence was superb and Crusaders were not able to score a try despite a long spell of pressure. In the end they were reduced to a penalty kick to bring the score to 5-3.
Beccles extended their lead again before half time with a penalty from Wade to make the half time score 3-8.
Both sides had spells of possession in the second half but both defences were on top and chances were at a premium. As the game moved in to the last fifteen minutes Crusaders stepped up their game. They couldn’t pierce the Beccles defence but did manage a penalty to bring the score back to 6-8.
With minutes left Beccles looked to turn a ball over in midfield. Beccles had three players to the breakdown quickly and thought they should have had a penalty for the isolated Crusaders player not releasing the ball. However, the referee deemed that the Beccles players had hands in the ruck and gave the penalty the other way. Crusaders kicked their penalty to sneak in to the lead.
There were two minutes left to turn it around and Beccles worked themselves in to a good position centre field. The ball was spun back to Arnold who went for the drop goal to win the game. The ball was on target but dropped agonisingly inches under the bar to secure a cruel defeat for Beccles.
Beccles now have two weeks without league action with matches at home to Woodbridge and Wymondham. There is a VP’s lunch before the Woodbridge game on Saturday (Feb 3rd) and anybody interested in attending should phone Paddy on 01502715805.

Keith Johnstone Beccles Press Officer