Southwold secured promotion the week before to London Division 2 taking them two leagues above Beccles. However, form book, as ever, goes out of the window when it comes to the annual Pony Moore cup match and Beccles were looking for a morale boasting victory after a tough season.
Beccles were able to field a strong team and started the game well, taking the game to the opposition. Some tough tackling and strong carries, led by the forwards, meant Beccles dominated possession and territory early on.
Beccles were eventually able to turn this in to points. A good lineout take by Maeer on the Southwold twenty two was driven towards the Southwold line. As the drive sucked in the Southwold defence the ever alert Puxley saw a gap down the blindside and went over untouched for a try. Gedney added the conversion.
Beccles continued to put the pressure on Southwold and soon extended their lead. After the forwards drove deep in to Southwold territory Gedney was able to find Cooper running a good angle and he went over for the try.
With half time approaching Southwold upped their game and began to have some possession of their own. They got on the scoresheet just before half time when a tight driving maul from a line out saw them go over for an unconverted try. This gave a half time score of 12 – 5.
In the second half Southwold continued to push to get back on level terms. The Beccles defence was solid if sometimes a bit frantic. Beccles had three players in the sin bin during the half but Southwold still struggled to find a way through. With twenty to go Southwold did score out wide for another unconverted try to bring them within two points.
Beccles had some spells of possession but as they game drew towards a close it was Southwold who were pushing for the victory. With time running out they gave one last push. As the Beccles defence became more desperate they began to concede penalties. As the time ran out Southwold were awarded a penalty 30 meters out, just to the left of the posts. Ex-Beccles player Wade was the man to try and kick Southwold to victory but his effort slid just past the post. Beccles had won the game by 12 -10.
This was a well deserved victory for Beccles on the day with every player giving their all to the cause. It was the first time Beccles had won the Pony Moore trophy for a few years and they will be hoping for better things to come next season if they can repeat this performance. With the likes of Rix, Cooper and Wilson probably retiring after this season it will be the young players in the Beccles squad looking to take the team on to the next level.
Man of the match was Johnstone.
The second team also took on Southwold on Saturday. Southwold controlled the first half to open up a 19 – 0 lead but Beccles fought back bravely to win the second half by 7 – 5, giving a final score of 7 – 24.