Woodbridge 7 - 29 Fakenham 27.11.21 London 3 Eastern Counties

Woodbridge 7 – 29 Fakenham 27.11.21

Fakenham travelled to Woodbridge, along with Storm Arwen, for the ninth round of London 3 Eastern Counties fixtures. After a good result for the second team last week, the 1st XV wanted to continue that form.

Games with Woodbridge have always been tough, hard-fought games. The appearance of Storm Arwen dictated the way the game would be played, with strong winds and rain preventing much free-flowing rugby.

Fakenham started the game strongly, immediately taking advantage of having the wind at their backs in the first forty to pin Woodbridge in their own half. Some strong carries from the pack took Fakenham close to the Woodbridge 22, where the home side conceded a penalty in front of their posts. Fakenham duly took the three points, with outside centre Murray Tindal kicking the penalty.

It was not long before Fakenham were back in the Woodbridge half, playing their rugby at a high tempo. A half break from fly half Luke Boynes was finished off when he offloaded to Murray Tindal, who squeezed over between two covering defenders to touch down. He duly converted his own try to make it 10 – 0 to Fakenham.

The away side kept the pressure on again, with the pace on the ball defying the conditions and giving the home defence a number of problems. A ball to Murray Tindal just outside his opposing number on the half way line gave him the space to attack again. He showed impressive pace to skirt around a number of defenders and score, once again converting his own try.

The rest of the half saw Fakenham’s speed drop, and the game settling into a slower pace, with a number of scrums and neither side gaining any momentum or ascendency. They went in at half time with Fakenham 17 – 0 up.

In the second half Woodbridge had the wind on side and took advantage of this to spend more time in the Fakenham half. However some strong defence kept Woodbridge out and a couple of penalties that went Fakenham’s way allowed them to move up the field. A lineout on the Woodbridge 22 provided a good opportunity, and Fakenham set up a strong driving maul. Scrum half Harry Richardson whipped the ball out to the backs and inside centre Ashley Stewart gratefully took advantage of a hole opening up in front of him to gallop over for a try. This time the conversion from Murray Tindal was unsuccessful.

Woodbridge hit back well, again using the conditions to pin Fakenham in their half. Woodbridge had a number of opportunities, but the tricky conditions and some good defence kept them at bay. Nevertheless Woodbridge kept pressing and moved the ball out wide to the left where they had an overlap, going over to score their first points of the game. They converted to leave the score at 22 – 7 in Fakenham’s favour.

The game continued to follow a similar pattern, with Woodbridge pinning Fakenham in their half and Fakenham giving away a number of penalties to provide their opposition with more opportunities. However, a good break from Fakenham flanker Patrick Lound in his own half took them deep into Woodbridge territory and some quick offloading carried them just short of the Woodbridge try line. A quick pass from the base of the ruck from Harry Richardson to Ashley Stewart saw him crash over with a defender hanging off him. Murray Tindal converted to take the score to 29 – 7, where it stayed until the final whistle..

A great result on the road for Fakenham to finish off the first half of league fixtures this season. It takes them to seventh in the table, ready to push hard for the rest of the season. The Barsham Brewery Man of the Match was flanker Joe Airey. He made countless tackles and disrupted the Woodbridge lineout throughout the game, shutting down a number of their chances before they began.

Next week sees both teams at home. The 1st XV play Norwich Union, who they lost 49 – 21 to earlier in the season and kick off at 2pm. The 2nd XV play Wymondham 3rd XV. There is a luncheon on at the club so get in contact if you are interested and come down to support the boys.