Beccles were anxious to put right their disappointing display against East London and once again soon had their opponents under pressure. Wisbech were forced to stray offside in front of their posts and conceeded a peanlty in front of their posts 20 m out. This sort of kick has been meat and drink to Luke Wade all season however he hooked the ball wide for a shock miss. It is credit to Wade's exemplary form with the boot this season that the crowd was surprised when he missed a more testing effort from the left hand side. Tom Harrison followed up the kick and looked to have grounded the ball only for the referee to be unsighted.

From the ensuing scrum Beccles pressed and Tris Holitzer drove over for an unconverted score. Beccles attacked from the restart and found themselves putting the vistors under pressure again with Luke Wade taking a short pass and powerfully driving over, Sam Harmer converted having taken on the kicking duties. Wisbech were struggling to compete in the tight however ill discipline cost the Bulls allowing them two penalties to narrow the gap to 12-6 at half time.

Sensing they needed a win to avoid relegation Wisbech came out strongly and scored another penalty and a converted try following an intercept try. Beccles fought back with some good interpassing to allow the ever improving John Hoffman to score a well taken try in the left corner. Wisbech were struggling at the scrum and although Rob Wilson was denied two scores after being adjudged to have taken a quick tap from the wrong mark the referee made amends awarding the Bulls a penalty try when a scrum collapsed as the Bulls drove for the line.

At 24-16 the game looked safe and Beccles were guilty of going to sleep. Winger Harrison had to leave the field forcing tackling machine Robert Hall to cover on the wing. He was sorely missed as the Wisbech fly half made several clean breaks to put Wisbech in sight of the line.A spilt ball looked to have given Beccles the chance to clear their lines however they made a meal of the scrum and clumsily spilt the ball trying to run the ball deep in their 22. As has so often happened this year this gifted the visitors a try with 3 minutes remaining and the chance to get back into the game which should have been dead and buried. to make matters worse Sam Harmer was yellow carded for dissent leaving the Bulls short handed.

Rather than pinning Wisbech back with a deep kick a short kick was fielded well giving Wisbech a chance to attack. Beccles failed to complete low tackles allowing their opponents to make ground and offload as they did not have to secure possession on the floor. Showing real guts and determination Wisbech forced their way into the Beccles 22 and touched down for a 28-24 victory in a game Beccles should have put away in the first half. Beccles lack of focus, commitment in defence and tactical naivety were in stark contrast to their second team counterparts who showed all these qualities in spades to defeat North Walsham twos across the avenue.

Beccles man of the match Robert Hall

Team Holtzer, Lake, Ling, Johnstone, Giddins, Edwards, Wilson, Hall, Sale, Wade, Harrison, Roberts, Hoffman, Frost, Harmer, Res Rix, Guy