March Bears v Fakenham (Eastern Counties 2) on October 26, report by Colin Galbraith.
After March Bears memorable victory against Wisbech the previous Saturday, the Bears came face-to-face with another high powered unit in the shape of Fakenham.
But March again showed fantastic drive and it has to be said the final score flattered the opposition when March allowed them to score two converted tries in the last four minutes of the game after March were reduced to 14 men.
This was due to a harsh yellow card for their number 8, Henry Mair .
For the first six to seven minutes both sides found it difficult to hold on to a very greasy ball. However March were awarded a penalty in the ninth minute from a line-out and with a fast feed from the loose saw George Paul carve through the defence to go over for the first score. George converted the try himself giving March a 7 v 0 lead.
But Fakenham fought back and after 15 minutes repeated balls from their ruck eventually created an overlap on the left and their winger went in for a try which was not converted.
Then against the run of play Fakenham broke from defence with their impressive full back eventually feeding his centre which saw Fakenham go over for a second try which they converted this time.
But this period saw a flurry of action when the ball was stolen from Fakenham’s maul which Henry Mair took full advantage of and powered through the Fakenham defence for March’s second try which George Paul again converted.
Half time March Bears 14 v 12 Fakenham
Up to now Fakenham were holding on and with a penalty two minutes into the restart they took a one point lead but that lasted for three minutes when Fakenham were penalised for coming in from the side leaving George Paul to slot over another penalty for March.
Four minutes later, the gap started to widen when two of the Fakenham backs managed to get in a complete tangle from a kick through and George Paul seized on this to scamper through and under the posts for a converted try.
Fakenham were now giving away repeated penalties as they struggled to contain March and after yet another penalty by Devan Bates, supported by his scrum, crashed over for another and bonus point try taking the score out to 31 v 15 with eight minutes to play.
Four minutes later yet another infringement by Fakenham saw George Paul belt over another penalty from distance out on the far right.
March were then sitting with a 19 point lead and this lasted until the 76th minute when the team were yellow carded and then seemed to sit back and allowed two counter attacks in the last four minutes to give up converted tries to Fakenham.
The last of those being deep into the over time red zone there was never any chance of Fakenham snatching a dramatic win.
Coach Kris Jones was quoted after the match of being less than pleased with the final few minutes but was full of praise for man-of-the-match Callum Campbell who threw himself into tackles which saw him taken off twice due to injuries but who refused to give in.
Final score: March Bears 34 v 29 Fakenham
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