Newmarket 0 – 65 Diss

With key players away on County duty, Newmarket were slightly unfortunate to meet by far the strongest team they have faced this season. However, they could have no complaints about the result as Diss proved quicker, stronger and more determined in all phases of the game, and the home team put in a performance that was well below par.

Newmarket were always on the back foot and trying to make something from scraps of possession. The Diss forwards and backs ran hard and straight. While most of the Newmarket team made an occasional good stop, they could not stem the tide. The missed tackle count grew enormously and largely accounted for the six tries that Diss ran in during the first half.

After the turn around and playing with the slope and the wind, there were some signs that Newmarket might get back into the game. The forwards began to win their own ball at the scrum and play was kept in the Diss half. However, they never really threatened the Diss try line and the overall pattern of the game was quickly re-established as the visitors took advantage of tiring home legs to run in a further five tries.

Dan Bristow was awarded man of the match for Newmarket and a special mention is also due to Jack Felton for some brave tackling in his first match for the club. Recent recruits Tom Wills and Ashley Reid were awarded their club ties after the match.

Sunday 22nd November: Diss match confirmed

Match against Diss at home this Sunday is confirmed. 10am meet for 11am kick off.

Peterborough 10 – 7 Newmarket

Much of the first half of this match was played in the middle third of the pitch as both teams struggled to dominate. The weight of Peterborough's pack was matched by the determination of the Newmarket forwards, with their captain, Jack Watson, leading by example to receive the man of the match award. Neither side was able to make good use of the ball and any opportunities that came to the backs were quickly snuffed out by their opposite numbers. It was no surprise that the game was scoreless at the break, though Newmarket were hampered by an injury to scrum-half Lewis Heap that ruled him out of the remainder of the match.

Newmarket started brightly in the second half and penned Peterborough near their own try line. With secure ball coming from the scrums, winger Iain Moffat was within metres of touching down on two occasions following charging runs by Joe Stafford and Nathan Buckle. The other Newmarket backs were equally committed with both Gwilym Davies and Tom Locke forcing turnovers in the tackle. However, failure to convert pressure into points cost Newmarket dear as Peterborough regained the ball near the halfway line and against the run of play their speedy outside centre sprinted clear for an unconverted breakaway try.

Newmarket responded strongly. Despite struggling with an injury, hooker Dan Downing and the props Tom Wills and Oliver Sanusi-Bartlett continued to secure loose ball that took them close to the home team's line. Peterborough did well to keep out a charge from Dan Bristow well-supported by Ben Jeacock and Ethan Brown, but as players were sucked in the ball came out to Buckle who straightened the line and laid it back for Stafford to crash over under the posts and notch up a two point lead.

It remained that way until the last play of the match. Facing a borrowed stand-in scrum half the Peterborough forwards were able to steal ball tapped back from the lineout. Twice they crossed the try line only to be held up by last-ditch Newmarket defence. On the second occasion the home side were awarded a penalty and this time Newmarket were unable to prevent the No. 13 from wriggling through for his second try and a narrow Peterborough victory.

Newmarket 14 – 14 Bury St Edmunds

Against a strong and so far undefeated Bury squad, Newmarket spent much of the match defending in their own half. Despite Bury frequently getting close to the line the Newmarket forwards scrapped hard to disrupt possession and the backs put in a series of try saving tackles.

It wasn't until the second half that Bury managed to cross the line from short range as they stretched the Newmarket defence from a five metre scrum. That added to the converted try scored by Bury in the first half.

When that first try went in it looked as if Newmarket would really struggle, but on the rare occasions when they were able to get on the front foot they looked very dangerous as both backs and forwards kept the ball alive. Following great link play Newmarket got very close to the Bury try line only be to be kept out. From a subsequent scrum Dan Bristow proved unstoppable, brushing off five players to crash over the line and end the first half with the match tied at 7 points each.

Newmarket started the second half in similar style and this time it was Chris Le who evaded the Bury defence to score under the posts. Newmarket retained the lead until the second Bury try was brilliantly converted from the touchline. In the last minute Bury thought they had snatched the match, only to see the score ruled out as the ball was not grounded.

Woodbridge 21 - 26 Newmarket

This was reported to be a fantastic performance by Newmarket in the driving rain.

21 points down at half-time, the match seemed already over. The second half proved an entirely different matter. Newmarket not only kept Woodbridge at bay but scored 4 tries (3 converted by Joe Stafford) to snatch victory.

Unfortunately no full match report or photographs are available for this fixture.