Fakenham’s fourteenth fixture in the Counties 2 Eastern Counties league saw them travel to Sudbury II. Fakenham ran out 20 – 14 winners at the Stringer Ground in a tight game in September and this promised to be another good contest. The wide pitch and dry weather helped the contest by allowing for an expansive game to be played.

With their most stop start season in recent memory, Fakenham’s last league game was on January 7th and as a result they were not quite match sharp. Sudbury started the game well and dominated the opening exchanges, controlling territory and possession to continuously attack the away side. Sudbury retained possession well and worked through the phases to eventually carve out an opening and go over for the first try of the game, though the conversion was unsuccessful.

The home side kept the pressure up from the restart and again had possession in the Fakenham half. A penalty just outside the 22 in front of the posts allowed Sudbury to kick the 3 points and open up an 8 point lead.

The start of the game was played at a breathless pace and it continued as Sudbury attempted to run the ball out of their own 22. However, Fakenham fly half Lloyd Marshall managed to get a hand in the passing channel and knock the ball into the air. After a couple of juggles he managed to get control of the ball and dot it down close to the posts for a try that he followed up with a conversion.

That moment gave Fakenham a foothold in the game and they built from there. A scrum in the Sudbury 22 gave the away side a strong platform and number eight Jonny Wheeler carried strongly from the base to go within 10 metres of the try line. A deft offload as he went to ground put Marshall through a gap for him to dive over the line for his second try of the game. He once again was successful with the conversion, giving the away side a 14 – 8 advantage.

However the lead changed hands again as Sudbury came back, working well to score another try and convert it to go 1 point ahead.

Soon after a Fakenham penalty gave them the chance to retake the lead, but Marshall was unable to slot it this time. Nonetheless, Fakenham retained possession from the ensuing 22 drop out and kept their composure to make space for flanker Patrick Lound on the left wing, where he showed pace and strength to cut back inside and score with the final play of the half. Marshall converted to put the half time score at 15 – 21 in Fakenham’s favour.

Soon after the restart Fakenham got on the scoreboard again, with Marshall completing his hat-trick. Some deft hands and good interplay saw him go over wide on the left. With the tricky angle he was unable to add the two points this time.

Once again Sudbury came back at Fakenham, with the home side profiting from a number of penalties against Fakenham indiscipline. A couple of attempts at goal were missed, however Sudbury were unperturbed and kept going to score their third try and convert it, taking the score to 22 – 26.

The game was as tight as the scoreline suggested and both teams continued to attack each other, though it was Fakenham that next got the opportunity to add points. A penalty in the middle of the pitch between the Sudbury 10 and 22 metre lines gave Marshall the chance to extend Fakenham’s lead. He duly stepped up and slotted the kick to give Fakenham a 7 point lead with 6 minutes to go.

From the restart the away side retained possession very well and showed the most composure they had all game to move up the pitch and keep hold of the ball. They eventually scored again after good phase play left them with numbers on the left. A lofted ball over the last Sudbury defender found flanker Ashley Stewart in space, who ran in to dive over the line. A good conversion from Marshall out on the left was the final play of the game, with the score finishing 22 – 36.

A great game of rugby, with both teams playing some exciting stuff and making use of the wide pitch. Fakenham did very well to get the 5 points on the road, especially given they played the majority of the game down to 14 players after 3 yellows and a red card.

The Barsham Brewery Man of the Match went to Lloyd Marshall for his hat-trick and control of the game.

Head Coach Chris Bird was very happy with the resilience Fakenham showed to get the win despite their indiscipline, though the team know that needs to improve and there are a couple of other bits to work on in training on Tuesday.

Massive thanks to James Peeling for coming all the way to Sudbury to get some quality match photos for us.

Next week the boys travel to Cambridge III. Fakenham ran out comfortable winners at the Stringer Ground earlier in the season but know it will be a tougher test this time round. Any travelling support would be much appreciated.