Gt Yarmouth-Broadland 25 Wymondham II 13

Great Yarmouth-Broadland secured another league win at the weekend but were made to work hard by a spirited, visiting Wymondham side.

The game started at breakneck speed with Wymondham flying into the contact area and making it hard for Broadland to disrupt the ruck legally. Eventually the pressure told with a string of penalties seeing Broadland down to 14 men and Wymondham taking a quick tap to crash over the line.

Wymondham followed that up with more pressure which caused several more penalties and allowed them to lead 13-0 with only 20 minutes gone.

Finally Broadland seemed to wake up and start to play their game to great effect.

Shaun Howley took the ball and crashed through several tackles to set up quick ball which was worked out wide before Stuart Murray found Richard Ruddick who passed out of contact to Lee Raven for a well-worked team try.

That was the first sign of Broadland having the ball for a sustained period and they looked dangerous every time they went forward. That was followed up by another well-worked score by the hosts and a sign that the momentum was shifting.

Jared Webster took a quick throw and after the ball was worked close to the line Jimmy Dwyer ran a convincing decoy line allowing Webster to get the ball again and squirm over the line.

Wymondham looked shocked but came back fighting again and put pressure on Broadland but failed to add to their score before the break.

The second half was heavily in Great Yarmouth’s favour but they couldn’t seem to score as freely as they hoped.

Ben Collings and Howley linked up well in midfield and made yards before shipping the ball out to Stacey Ledgerwood who dragged several defenders with him into contact.

Forwards Kevin Tierney and Kieran Wilkes offered a constant running threat and made sure the defence was kept close to the ruck.

Eventually, after moving the ball quickly, Jared Webster got the ball in his hands and burst past his man to race in from distance and put Broadland in the lead. That was soon followed by a penalty by Murray to put the home side up by seven.

Wymondham were still in the game but looked less dangerous into the wind.

Broadland had wave after wave of attacks with George Wilson and Liam Haylett making a string of carries from the pack before the ball was utilised out wide with Jake Sewell getting his hands on the ball regularly and making several breaks through the line. However, Broadland couldn’t capitalise on their possession and squandered many scoring chances.

Finally, after sustained pressure, Phil Buckley collected a loose ball from a chip over the top and dragged a defender over the line to secure the bonus point try.

Wymondham came back for a final go at Broadland but made the questionable decision of running at forwards Matt Beckett and Rian Gallie who put a string of big hits in to force the runners back behind the gainline and prevent any further score.

Squad: Beckett, Buckley, Gallie, Tierney, Dwyer, R Ruddick, Raven, Wilson, S Ruddick, Murray, Howley, Collings, Webster, Ledgerwood, Sewell. Subs: Haylett and Wilkes.

Scorers: Webster (2), Raven, Buckley. Cons: Murray 1 of 4. Pens: Murray 1 of 2.