After a week off, Fakenham returned to action by welcoming Mistley to the Stringer Ground for the seventh game of the season.

Mistley ran out winners here last season, and as they sat third in the league before the game, Fakenham knew it would be a tough assignment.

The weather was pretty disgusting. It stayed wet for all but the last ten minutes, and the cold weather numbed fingers to make handling a tad more difficult than normal. Perfect for running rugby.

The away side played the conditions well from the start, kicking for territory and keeping Fakenham pinned in their own half. A penalty in the first few minutes gave Mistley a chance to kick for goal and get the first points on the scoreboard. The successful kick was followed by another 10 minutes later as they built a six point lead.

Fakenham worked their way into the game and enjoyed some possession and territory, but couldn't get onto the scoreboard until midway through the half. Number eight Murray Tindal took the ball from a ruck just inside his own half, left of the centre circle. He hit a half gap in the defensive line and once he broke into open space, it ended inevitably. Despite the mud slowing him down, Muz still had the pace to round the full back and outrun the covering defence to dot down under the posts. Captain and full back Lloyd Marshall slotted the conversion to give his side a one point lead.

Marshall soon extended the lead with a penalty kick of his own.

Then, with a penalty advantage to play with, Marshall put in a pinpoint cross field kick to hooker Rory Singleton, who was lurking on the wing, definitely through reading the game well and not laziness… Rory did very well to catch the ball with a man coming across to cover, and even managed to get closer to the posts before dotting down. Unfortunately Marshall couldn't add the extras this time.

From the restart, a knock on gave Mistley an attacking scrum in prime location. They worked it out to the backs and crashed over towards the right corner just before half time. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful.

Shortly thereafter the half time whistle was blown, with Fakenham leading 15 - 11.

The rain became even heavier in the second half and both sides went to the boot to try and control field position. Fakenham started brightly, taking territory, and were rewarded with a penalty that Marshall once more kicked to extend his side's lead to seven points.

From that point, Mistley began to control the territory, spending most of the remainder of the game in Fakenham's half. An impressive defensive display from the home side kept Mistley at bay until 5 minutes from time. A Fakenham ruck wide on the left, in their own 22, turned into a mess and the ball squeezed out the back, with Mistley being fastest to react, regather and dot the ball down over the line. With just two points in it, the conversion was crucial, but Mistley saw it go just wide.

Fakenham kicked the resulting restart deep and managed to keep the away side in their own half. As Mistley tried to play their way out, a pass went astray and into touch, and the final whistle was blown.

Fakenham finished 18 - 16 victors, an impressive victory over a top side, with both teams battling the elements throughout.

Mistley went down to 14 after a red card just before half time and fought hard throughout despite the disadvantage, though Fakenham did their best to mitigate it with two yellow cards of their own in the second half.

The Barsham Brewery Man of the Match actually went to three players, flanker Joe Airey and props Matt King and Zak Roberts-Harrell. They all put in great defensive shifts, with Joe in particular scything players down with his chop tackles. Matt and Zak were also integral parts of a strong scrum showing while Joe was great at lineout time.

Thank you to Katering 4U for once again providing the tasty post match teas.

Next week sees Fakenham make the journey to Wisbech for what promises to be another tough encounter. Any travelling support would be much appreciated.