Fakenham maintained their excellent start to the season in Eastern Counties One North on Saturday when they beat visitors North Walsham Raiders 24-3.

Fakenham quickly established their dominance but careless mistakes and silly penalties meant Walsham were able to kick their way up the pitch and put pressure on the home line.

Fakenham had learnt the lessons from the game against Norwich Union however and their defence against the Raiders’ driven maul was solid, forcing the away team to settle for three points from a Will Minchin penalty to open the scoring.

That would prove to be the only points North Walsham would get in the day.

Fakenham were far stronger in the pack and this reaped its reward when they pushed a five metre scrum up to the line and Howard Kellock touched down a simple score from eight.

Incisive runs from the Fakenham back three of George Ready, Brett Stolworthy and Murray Tindall meant Fakenham kept the pressure on the Walsham side.

The next score came when captain Tom Bane Young made a looping run across the pitch, drawing in the North Walsham winger and giving a clean pass for Tindall to score unopposed. With Bane Young adding the two points thhe halftime score was 12-3.

Starting the second half Walsham improved their defence, making it harder for Fakenham to break their lines, but composed play meant the home side scored two further tries through Jim Wells and a second from Tindall.

Injuries to the Raiders’ front row meant scrums went uncontested in the latter stages of the match.

North Walsham - who had won their first two games of the season played a hard game and had some excellent runs of their own.

But on the day Fakenham were the more complete team and deserved the bonus point win which kept them undefeated at the top of their table.

With four straight wins behind them, and a points difference of 124, Fakenham hit the road on Saturday to take on Norwich Medics, who have won two and lost one so far.

After starting their Division Three North campaign with three straight wins Dereham were beaten for the first time this season on Saturday when they went down 19-12 at Norwich Medics’ seconds.