Fakenham's ninth league game of the season saw them host Thorney at the Stringer Ground in front of a bumper crowd for the sold out Christmas luncheon, sponsored by Bruce Towers and Sons Ltd and provided by Bayfield Catering, thank you both.

When these sides met at the Stringer Ground in the cup in mid September Fakenham ran out convincing winners, but after a frustrating loss for Fakenham last week and an impressive win for Thorney, this was looking like another tight fixture.

In the end, it was mostly one way traffic, with Captain Adam Lingwood marking his first start (on the wing) since injury a couple of months ago with the opening try of the game after just a few minutes. With no Marshall this week, veteran Tom Bane-Young, starting on the other wing, took on goal kicking duties but couldn't hit is first shot of the day.

There were five more try scorers before the break, with full back Murray Tindal, number eight Howard Kellock, inside centre Jordan Walker, the aforementioned Bane-Young and scrum half Harry Richardson all dotting down. Bane-Young hit three of his attempted conversions to help his side to a 36 - 0 lead at the break.

Fakenham picked up where they left off in the second half with nine more tries. Lingwood and Walker both got their second scores, Tindal scored three more and outside centre Aaron Tagg bagged a second half hat trick. There was also a try for supposedly retired hooker Rob Ward, showing he's still got it and should definitely still be playing regularly.

Bane-Young successfully kicked the first conversion, but after he went off there were a number of different kickers attempting drop goals for conversions. This was in an attempt to speed the game up.

Fly half Cam Baldock nailed a couple of conversions and Tindal hit one. Thankfully flanker Pat Casey didn't get a chance to kick a conversion, despite his best efforts.

The result at full time was a resounding 89 - 0 victory for Fakenham. The forwards set the platform well and allowed the backs to show their strength, cutting through to score so many tries. The defensive effort was also very pleasing, keeping their opponents to nil points.

Thank you to Thorney for travelling and fulfilling the fixture despite having availability issues, we've all been there. They fought hard throughout, despite going down to 14 men in the second half as injuries took their toll.

The Barsham Brewery Man of the Match went to hooker Rob Ward. He dominated the restart, taking most of the catches and setting off on barrelling runs that led to tries on a few occasions. He topped it off with a try as he powered over from a 5m lineout.

Thank you to Katering 4U for the match teas that both sides enjoyed tucking into.

Thank you in advance to James Peeling for the match photos that are to follow, when he's not busy with other sports this weekend.

Next week sees Fakenham make the long journey to Mersea Island. Any travelling support would be greatly appreciated.