Kicker keeps his nerve to send Broadland to a narrow defeat
GT Yarmouth rugby - Credit: Archant
On a bitterly cold afternoon two mid-table sides played a thoroughly entertaining game of rugby that went down to the very final seconds.
North Walsham started the game brightly using their wind advantage to pin Broadland back in their half. Despite their territorial advantage Walsham could not get on the board, thanks to some fantastic Broadland defence.
The forwards were putting in lots of physical hits with the front row pair of Lee Raven and Rian Gallie making sure nobody got around the edges of a ruck. James Murphy was up quick on the wing and snuffed out several breaks with strong tackles.
After a string of penalties Broadland found themselves down a man for 10 minutes and that allowed Walsham to score the first try. Broadland responded and, despite being a man short, they looked the team with an advantage.
Stuart Murray put them on the board with a penalty before they scored a try. Richard Ruddick picked up a loose ball and broke down the wing before being stopped metres short. Walsham infringed and Matt Beckett took a penalty which he fed to Nathan Bensley who crashed over from close range.
The second half saw Dudley make his presence felt with a string of solid tackles but Walsham pressed hard and were awarded a penalty try.
Again Broadland responded well. Jamie Murray made an immediate impact with several crunching hits. Eventually Shaun Howley went charging through before the ball was worked wide to Ben Collings who scored in the corner (converted).
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Then Broadland scored again with George Wilson breaking from the scrum and offloading to Liam Haylett to score (converted).
It looked like Broadland would triumph, but with five minutes left Walsham scored.
Then with time running out Walsham were awarded a try despite the ball seemingly never getting to the line.
The kicker held his nerve to convert and give the away side a hard-fought victory.
Squad: Beckett, Raven, Gallie, Wilkes, Bensley, Haylett, R Ruddick, Wilson, S Ruddick, S Murray, Howley, Collings, Murphy, Barber, Payne. Subs: J Murray, Dudley, Trett.
