Feast of rugby on menu

THERE is a feast of rugby at the Fakenham club on Saturday.At 1.30pm the Foxes Ladies' team take on their Woodbridge counterparts. At 3pm the First XV also entertain Wodbridge, in what could be a relegation decider.

THERE is a feast of rugby at the Fakenham club on Saturday.

At 1.30pm the Foxes Ladies' team take on their Woodbridge counterparts. At 3pm the First XV also entertain Wodbridge, in what could be a relegation decider. The Second XV are also in home action, fronting up against local rivals Holt (3pm).

The clubhouse will also be showing the England v Scotland game from Murrayfield. There is a luncheon preceding the game.

Wymondham 51, Fakenham 0

FAKENHAM arrived at the league leaders possibly fearing the worse. The home team had secured the county trophy the week before and remain unbeaten in the league.

Fakenham on the other hand have had a difficult season and continue to rely on many young players every week.

The visitors started brightly. Aggressive defence turned the ball over to them on a number of occasions and the game remained scoreless for the first quarter. However, Wymondham had the confidence and skill to throw the ball wide and this exploited a key defensive weakness. Inevitably a number of tries were conceded and the game was essentially over by half-time.

The Fakenham players showed great resilience in the second period and made Wymondham work for every advantage. Only some last-gasp defending by the home team kept their try line intact, and Fakenham left the field with their heads high.

Crusaders II 7, Fakenham II 15

HAVING a game against Thetford called off, Fakenham's second team travelled to Crusaders, who fielded an experienced side. Potter won the toss elected to play with the brisk wind as an advantage.

Fakenham started the brighter with the forwards dominating virtually every scrum and maul and the backs equal in the tackle and rucking.

Pressure eventually paid off with Crusaders conceding penalties in front of their posts, allowing Smith to take the three points. A good session of running play, and rucking skills recently honed at training, saw Fakenham establish a foothold at the home five-metre line. Continuous hands in the following rucks by Crusaders gave the referee no option but to grant the penalty try, converted by Smith.

Fakenham's dominant pack continued to control proceedings and forced a selection of penalties, eventually providing a quick tap-and-go for James to touch down.

The second half saw a revitalised home side throw all they could at Fakenham, but Fakenham's high tackle count prevented and halted a number of breaks.

Only in the last 10 minutes did Crusaders have their best attack which led to a converted try. Fakenham's forwards led by James knocked on the home team's door for long periods, and only loose play and Crusaders' resilient defence prevented further scores.