Fakenham's seventeenth league game of the season saw them travel to Bedford Athletic II. Fakenham won a high scoring fixture between these sides 46 - 34 at the Stringer Ground earlier this season. However, they knew it would be a much tougher contest on the road.

The 4G playing surface made for a novel experience for a number of the Fakenham boys, providing some extra bounce. A drizzle throughout most of the game caused the ball to be greasy and handling difficult.

The home side took the lead after only a few minutes, when their big inside centre crashed through from a lineout. A successful conversion followed.

Fakenham struck back almost immediately. A knock on by Bedford Athletic from the restart gave Fakenham a strong attacking platform, on the right hand side of the 22. From the solid scrum, Fakenham moved it wide to the left where winger Ashley Stewart showed great strength and pitch awareness to get the ball down over the line as he was being bundled into touch. Fly half Lloyd Marshall nailed an impressive conversion from the touchline to draw level.

It was then Bedford Athletic’s turn to score straight after the restart. They were able to win a lineout deep in Fakenham territory, before crashing through with their inside centre once again. Another successful conversion followed.

Five minutes later, the away side were taking their turn to attack. A penalty in front of the posts gave Fakenham the chance to kick some easy points, with Marshall duly nailing the kick.

After a back and forth opening quarter of an hour, Bedford Athletic took control with a couple of quick fire tries, with one conversion, to take a commanding 26 - 10 lead. This was only midway through the first half, but despite endeavour from both sides there were no more scores before the break.

The second half saw Fakenham dominate territory, but an impressive defensive effort from Bedford Athletic kept them at bay. And despite being under pressure for most of the half, it was the home side that scored first. With only ten minutes left in the game, Bedford Athletic broke out of their 22 with an evasive run from their fly half, who drew the last Fakenham defender before feeding his outside centre. They showed pace to get to the line despite being chased. The conversion was unsuccessful on this occasion.

Fakenham were not dispirited by this setback and continued to attack, finally getting their reward through veteran number eight Rob Ward. After a couple of Fakenham carries were repelled on the try line, Ward showed his power to fight to the line and get the ball on the whitewash in the left hand corner. Marshall slotted another very impressive conversion with what was the final act of the game.

The final score was 31 - 17. Bedford Athletic deserved their win for being clinical when they were on top in the first half. Fakenham can be bouyed by winning the second half, but could have come away with some points if they'd made all of their territory and possession count.

The Barsham Brewery Man of the Match went to fly half Lloyd Marshall. He was flawless with the boot and combined that with some strong runs to put his side in good positions in the second half.

The next game is in two weeks time, when Fakenham host Mistley at the Stringer Ground. Fakenham lost 32 - 43 at Mistley in the middle of November, so know it will be a tough, but entertaining game. Come down and support the boys as they look to overturn that result. There is a luncheon on before the game, so get in touch if you would like a ticket.