Fakenham 37 – 24 Thurston 02.03.24 Counties 2 Eastern Counties

Fakenham’s seventeenth league game of the season saw them host Thurston at the Stringer Ground. When these sides met in November, Thuston ran out 39 – 26 winners at their place. Fakenham were looking to overturn that and maintain their grip on 5th place in the league, with Thurston just one place and six points behind them.

A pre match luncheon, sponsored by Anglo Scottish, meant a bumper crowd. The weather held out for the most part, with only a short shower, so the two sides could put some good phases together to entertain the crowd.

There was a minutes silence before the game in memory of George Ready. George had been an integral part of the Fakenham set up before emigrating to Australia, where he recently very sadly passed away.

With the wind behind them in the first half, Fakenham were able to keep the ball mostly in the Thurston half. However, they could not initially make the territory count and it took a penalty kick to get them on the scoreboard. An infringement from the away side just inside their half gave Fakenham the chance to kick at goal. Fly half Lloyd Marshall stepped up with the long range attempt but was just off target and the ball cannoned off the post. Thurston collected the ball and carried up the pitch, but another penalty at the very next breakdown gave Marshall another shot at goal. He made no mistake this time to give his side a 3 point lead.

Following the restart, the home side were able to clear their lines and Thurston had a lineout on their own 22. An overthrow was smartly gathered by Fakenham flanker Adam Lingwood at the back of the line, who then showed his strength to get a fend in before breaking clear and get to the corner with an impressive burst of speed before diving over the try line. Marshall could not add the extras from wide on the right.

Fakenham scored a quickfire second try shortly after. A scrappy bit of play caused some confusion before the ball was worked wide to the left, just inside the home half. Full back Murray Tindal got his hands on the ball and showed his trademark combination of pace and power to break free down the wing, before finding winger Ashley Stewart for him to finish off the move and dot down. Marshall then slotted an impressive conversion from the left to give the home side a 15 – 0 lead.

As expected, Thurston immediately fought back and registered their first points. Fakenham could not deal with the restart cleanly as an accidental offside gave the ball back to the away side. They took advantage of their chance in clinical fashion, moving the ball wide to the left before scoring. The conversion from out wide was unsuccessful.

Another penalty kick for Marshall soon followed to extend the Fakenham lead to 18 – 5, before a ten minute period without score for either side.

The home side found success down their left wing once more, as they broke free and some good interplay between the backs set inside centre Tom Bane-Young away. He looked to have the try line at his mercy, but unselfishly passed back inside to Tindal for him to dive over the line. Bangers obviously gave up on catching Murray for top try scorer long ago. Marshall again added the extras.

Thurston got the final say of the half. A strong carry was stopped just short of the line, but a smart offload from the floor found the onrushing big away centre who crashed over the line after bouncing off the post protector. Don’t worry, we checked the post and it was okay. The conversion was successful to put the half time score 25 – 12.

As well as the final say in the first half, Thurston had the first say of the second. After their dominant scrums gave them good possession, the away side moved closer to the Fakenham line. Off the back of another scrum they moved the ball left where they were able to get over the line. A decent conversion took them to within 6 points of the home side.

Thurston soon brought themselves even closer. They had all the possession and all of the territory, making it pay 15 minutes into the second half. A number of strong forward carries culminated in the Thurston Man of the Match, their second row, producing one of the powerful runs he made all game to force his way over the line and bring his side within a point. The conversion would have given the away side the lead for the first time, but they could not slot the kick from the right of the posts and it was 25 – 24.

Fakenham finally woke up in the second half and arrested the momentum their counterparts had developed. It was vital they scored next and they did so through Marshall. To be honest, I can’t remember how he managed it, but he did then convert his own try to take Fakenham two scores in front.

Thurston continued to dominate the scrums, but a yellow card for Rory Singleton, who had started at eight but went into loosehead when JPT was injured, meant the scrums had to go uncontested. This robbed the away side of their most potent attacking weapon and gave Fakenham a secure platform to work from.

5 minutes from the end, with Fakenham still down to 14, a dangerous clear out at a ruck wide on the right, 10 metres from the Thurston line, resulted in a red card for their number eight. The home side took an uncontested scrum from the penalty, with the whole width of the pitch to attack, and executed with aplomb. Fakenham shipped the ball wide to the left for Tindal to show his pace and power once again to get over the line. Marshall could not add the conversion from the extremity of the pitch to leave his side 13 points ahead with just a few minutes to go.

Thurston went on the attack to finish the game, hoping to at least get a losing bonus point to go with their try bonus point. However, strong rearguard action from Fakenham kept them at bay and substitute flanker Joe Airey was able to get over the ball in the shadow of his own posts to win the final crucial penalty. With the clock in the red, the home side were able to kick it dead to end the game, leaving the final score 37 – 24.

A great result for Fakenham, who were able to open up a 10 point gap in the league between themselves and their visitors with 3 games to go.

Great fight shown by Thurston throughout, who really turned on their scrum dominance in the second half and were unfortunate to see them go uncontested.

It was co-captain Rory Singleton’s final game of the season before the birth of his first child. Suitable that his most telling contribution was his yellow card which led to the uncontested scrums. We wish Rory and his partner Dana all the best.

The Barsham Brewery Man of the Match went to flanker Adam Lingwood, who played with intensity throughout the game in both attack and defence, topping it off with a try.

Thank you very much to Bayfield Catering for providing the luncheon enjoyed by all those in attendance.

Thank you to Katering 4U for the curry all the players happily tucked into after the game.

There is no 1st XV game next week, but there will hopefully be a 2nd XV fixture to support, so keep your eyes peeled for details about that.