West Norfolk travelled to Newmarket undefeated so far this season and with memories of a very heavy win last season. After the first half of the first match it seemed unlikely that their record would be in danger. Following the first of many lost lineouts Newmarket also conceded the first scrum and, with the defence missing, West Norfolk strolled over for their first try.
From the re-start Newmarket gathered the ball and strong runs by Chris Le and Nathan Buckle, well supported by Josh Quinn, suggested that they should be able to at least compete with the opposition. However, following an exchange of kicks, West Norfolk stole the ball on Newmarket’s throw and their scrum half exploited gaps in the disorganised defence to sneak over from the base of the ruck.
Indiscipline by West Norfolk then gave Newmarket a number of set pieces but they found it difficult to retain the ball. A long kick was gathered just short of his own line by fullback Gwilym Davies, but with limited support he was driven backwards and forced to touch down behind the try line. From the 5 metre scrum West Norfolk made good use of the blindside to power over for their third try.
The half-time team talk had a salutary effect on Newmarket. Early in the second half it seemed as if the two teams had swapped shirts. West Norfolk passed the ball out from a ruck close to their line only for Joe Stafford to put in a terrific tackle that allowed Lewis Heap to pick up the loose ball and immediately reduce the arrears.
No sooner had West Norfolk re-started than Aiden Cooper gathered the ball and broke several tackles to get over the half way line. The ball was quickly recycled to the backs and Stafford went over for the second try of the half.
However, despite solid defence from the whole team, including excellent tackling by Henry Smith, Oliver Sanusi Bartlett, and Dan Downing, and good runs from Thomas Locke and Iain Moffat, Newmarket couldn’t quite find the cutting edge to get the third score and level the match.
Match 2: Newmarket U12s 14 - West Norfolk U12s 21
The second match between the two sides produced an identical scoreline. Once again West Norfolk quickly took a two try lead but, following a strong drive by Dylan Allan from a tap penalty, Daniel Bristow kept his body low to get over the line and cut their lead. In the second half it looked as though West Norfolk had been shaken by their inability to pull away from Newmarket. Strong tackling by Ben Jeacock and Jack Watson kept them on the back foot and a rare poor pass from the opposition fly half was snapped up by man of the match Stafford who proved unstoppable from 30 metres out. Oliver Green added the points with his fourth successful conversion.
The match was now very evenly balanced and West Norfolk must have been worrying about their unbeaten record. However, they controlled the ball well through a series of scrums to take the lead once again. For the last 5 minutes Newmarket threw everything at the opposition, with great runs by Bristow and Ethan Brown who was held up over the line. The final clearing kick was caught well by Davies in his own half, but his jinking run, and the match, ended twenty metres from West Norfolk’s line.
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