Upminster 9 – Beccles 6

  Beccles were robbed of victory by two late penalties against them in their match away at Upminster. Beccles were leading 6-3 with three minutes to go but the opposition scored two penalties to make the final score 9-6.

  Beccles travelled with a strong team and a good number of supporters to cheer them on. Beccles started the match plying up the slope. The first half was very tight with the defences on top. There were also a number of handling errors from both sides which meant the neither side could build any momentum. The only score in the first half was an Upminster penalty to make the half time score 3 – 0.

  Beccles upped their game in the second half. They equalised with a long range Wade penalty. They then had the best scoring chance of the game when Arnold broke through the defence but was pulled down just short of the line. Arnold did get on the score sheet a few minutes later when he dropped a goal to put Beccles in to the lead.

  The Beccles pack was dominating in the scrum and line out. They even won a couple of scrums against the head after some good hooking from Musker McIntyre man of the match Porter.

  Beccles had nearly closed out the game when they conceded a penalty near the half way line. The small pitch meant that Upminster had a go at goal and scored the penalty to tie the scores up.

  As the game moved in to injury time both teams went looking for a winning score. Beccles called a miss move just inside their half which they pulled off to perfection to create an overlap. It looked like they were going to score but unbelievably the referee gave a penalty for crossing to the opposition. Upminster slotted the penalty and their was only just time to get the game started again before the final whistle went.