Beccles faced their starkest opposition to date on Saturday when they welcomed Norwich Union at home. Norwich were 3rd in the table and had their hopes pinned on closing the gap between them and the green machine.
Some great early possession meant Beccles had good field advantage to begin the game. However, some good Norwich defence and some missed opportunities meant that it took Beccles 10 minutes to get their first try. Norwich Union were trying to play out of their own half when Hannam got his hands on the ball and managed to run in for a well timed intercept try.
Some great set pieces from the forwards, especially the lineout enabled the backs to have clean ball. Kauri added a penalty kick mid-way through the half to give Beccles a ten to nothing lead.
As the first half crept on though, it was Norwich union who had transitioned into the driving seat. Getting more and more possession and territory, it eventually boiled over when they were able to get 2 tries in quick succession on the cusp of half time.
Now 14-10 down, and in the fashion that it had happened, Beccles would have to dig deep to secure the win in the second half.
It didn't take long before Hannam got his second interception of the day, in similar fashion. Reading the pass well and going clean through. This gave Beccles a 17-14 lead.
10 minutes later, some good attacking play by Norwich meant that they got their 3rd try mid-way through the half. However, Beccles remained resolute, and through some good moves and some tight work with the forwards, Gardiner was able to go over for a try. Beccles had a 24-19 lead.
The scrummaging started to pick up pace for Beccles. Putting the whole team on the front foot as a result. Though some great goal line defence from Beccles postponed a Norwich Union try, it didn't stop it. This levelled the scores and meant that Beccles were going to have to produce again, if they wanted a shot at winning.
With only a handful of minutes left to play, a turn over in the Norwich Union half meant Beccles had a chance. The forwards were able to march their way to a couple of meters outside the try line. But it took a nice pass by Kauri to shift the tired Union defence. Giving Tris Holtzer a chance to power his way over 2 defenders and touch it down for a Beccles try, his 4th in his last 3 games.
Beccles ended up winners 29-24 after a great performance from both teams. The Norwich Union defence was hard to break even until the last whistle. It took a big team effort from Beccles to overcome, one that will serve greatly later on in the year, when they have to encounter other tightly fought games.
MOTM was Hannam .
Kauri made 1/1 penalties & 3/4 conversions.