Lowestoft and Yarmouth 58, Thurston 5.On a cold and blustery day L and Y produced some of their best rugby of the season with this comprehensive win over Thurston, a team that had put 40 points past them in the away fixture.

Lowestoft and Yarmouth 58, Thurston 5.

On a cold and blustery day L and Y produced some of their best rugby of the season with this comprehensive win over Thurston, a team that had put 40 points past them in the away fixture.

The win moved L and Y into third place in Eastern Counties division one, but it is feared that other results must go with them for any chance of making the play-off slot. The L and Y line-up had a few late changes, with Lewis Davey calling off ill on the Friday and second row Russ Wilkinson moving to number eight and Mark Pack starting in the second row. Matt Howell was also welcomed back to the first team wing when Brian Garbutt declared himself unavailable.

L and Y had to play against the strong wind in the first half and took a short time to get used to the conditions. They nearly took the lead when Howell broke through and kicked ahead only to lose the race for the ball. Soon after, Josh Fewkes made an excellent break and was stopped just short of the line. This led to a penalty that Byron Clarke stroked over to make it 3-0. Clarke then turned to villain as his attempted clearance kick was charged down and the visitors had a free run to the home line to score in the corner, 3-5. Simon Coleman was making his presence felt with some strong midfield carries and runs, and along with Pack, provided the much needed stability for the front row of Danny Simmons, Chris Howe and Graeme Newton to dominate. The match then became the Matt Sole show as the L and Y skipper ran in a hat-trick of tries. The first came from the forwards as Coleman took a clean line-out ball and the rampant packed drove over from 10 yards out, with Sole at the back to touch down to make it 8-5. Fewkes then made a clever run through the grasping defence and just before being stopped, he handed over to Sole, who scored out wide, 13-5. He then scored his hat-trick when Clarke fed him a very neat and clever backhand inside pass and he was free to run the 40 yards to score under the posts. Clarke converted to make it 20-5 just on the half-time whistle.

Soon after the restart, Sole and Ben McElroy joined forces and combined to make 50 yards up-field before McElroy was stopped just short. From Thurston's next line-out Pack put pressure on the jumper and he was forced to knock the ball on and Fewkes gratefully collected and weaved and dummied his way under the posts to score. Clarke converted to make it 27-5. Russ Chapman was relishing the space he was being given and in the second half had some electrifying runs down the park, leaving defenders grasping. The pack then combined again and from 10 yards out, the scrum drove Thurston over their line and Wilkinson touched down. Clarke converted, 34-5.

Sole then grabbed try number four when Chapman made a 50-yard run and drew the last defender before slipping to Sole who scored in the corner, 39-5. Clarke was then next to score when Fewkes put him away in space and he went over virtually unopposed and converted his own try, 46-5. Then L and Y scored one of the best tries of the match as Kris Nelson broke through on the right and sent the ball through four pairs of hands to the left wing and James Gee scored in the corner, 51-5 The final try came following a 50-yard run down the park by Tom Smith to score under the posts, with Clarke converting to make the final score 58-5