Fakenham 19 - 36 Ely 15.01.22 London 3 Eastern Counties

Fakenham 19 – 36 Ely 15.01.22

The twelfth round of London 3 Eastern Counties fixtures saw Fakenham host Ely at the Stringer Ground. Ely won 60 – 7 at their place in October so Fakenham were looking to put in an improved performance to turn the result around.

Fakenham were immediately under pressure as they failed to take the kick off, but some strong, organised defence kept Ely at bay. A couple of penalties for Fakenham saw them move down the pitch to a lineout on the Ely 5m line. Fakenham set up a solid maul from the lineout from which scrum half Harry Richardson swung the ball out to fly half Luke Boynes, who showed good awareness to take the ball down the blindside and power over for the try in the first 5 minutes. Outside centre Murray Tindal scored an impressive conversion from wide on the right.

For most of the rest of the first half, Fakenham and Ely traded possession, with defences dominating. Both teams showed some rustiness from the 5 weeks since the last game, with a couple of knock ons and forward passes putting an end to promising plays. However, in the last 10 minutes of the half, Ely came to the ascendancy and scored three tries. The first was from a Fakenham scrum on their 5m line which Ely won against the head. The second saw their inside centre power over from close range. The final score of the half was from a Fakenham goal line drop out after Ely were held up over the line. Ely returned the ball, with a few missed tackles from Fakenham costing them as Ely moved the ball well to go over wide on the left. Ely were successful with one of their three conversions, leaving the half time score at 7 – 17.

The second half followed a similar pattern to the first, with the teams swapping possession. However, Ely were more clinical with the ball. They got the first score, taking the bonus point with a converted try. Fakenham fought back, moving down the pitch until they were attacking the Ely try line. Strong Ely defence kept out the pick and drive game, but a ball outside the ruck to winger Jamie Tuck saw him crash over for his first senior try. The conversion from Tindal was good once again.

Shortly afterwards, Fakenham went close with a driving maul from a lineout on the 5m line, but were held up over the line from some more good Ely defence. Ely scored next, a kick through from just outside the Fakenham 22 bounced kindly for Ely, wrong footing two covering Fakenham defenders and allowing an Ely player to collect the ball and go over close to the posts. The try was duly converted once again. This left the score at 14 – 31.

Another Ely score soon followed, as they worked the numbers well and went over wide on the right. This time the conversion was unsuccessful. Fakenham fought back once again, attacking fluidly. As Ely once again kept out the pick and go game, the ball was thrown out to the backs. Boynes spun a ball wide to inside centre Ashley Stewart, who collected the ball well after it hit the floor and showed determination to reach the try line, despite the attention of a couple of Ely defenders. This time, the conversion was unsuccessful.

With a minute left in the game from the restart, Fakenham looked to hold onto the ball in pursuit of the fourth try that would see them pick up a bonus point. They initially looked after the ball well and a penalty against Ely gave Fakenham the chance to move further down the pitch. However, Ely eventually won a penalty at the breakdown, which allowed them to tap the ball before booting it into touch to end the game. The final score was 19 – 36.

A disappointing result in the end for Fakenham, however they showed some good promise and put in an improved performance on the away fixture in October. Apart from one, the Fakenham scrum was solid throughout the game and their lineout was strong as well, with flanker Joe Airey doing especially well to disrupt and steal the Ely lineout during the game. The Barsham Brewery Man of the Match was full back Brett Stolworthy. He defended well and made a couple of good, clean line breaks during the game to give Fakenham some impetus going forward.

Next week sees the 1st XV travel to Wisbech. They lost 14 – 19 at home earlier in the season and will be looking to reverse that result in an important game.