Beccles Rugby Club are embarking on a new challenge after a disappointing campaign in Eastern Counties One North.

After at least ensuring they would not be relegated by finishing third from bottom in the table the Bulls are now competing in the Eastern Counties Bowl competition.

The new opposition is being provided by the teams who finished third and fourth from bottom in the other local leagues covering the west and south of the region, and Beccles kicked off with a home game against Cantabrigian Seconds on Saturday.

The encounter at Beef Meadow was a close run thing, but Beccles ended up on the wrong end of a 19-15 scoreline.

There is now a free weekend before the Bowl action resumes with a trip to Bury St Edmunds III on Saturday week. The next home game is against Sudbury II on March 10.

The other games at Beef Meadow are against Brightlingsea on April 7 and Bury St Edmunds III on April 14.

On Sunday Beccles Rugby Club's Under-13 side hosted two strong Norfolk clubs in Norwich and Wymondham and produced their best performances of the season so far.

They were solid at the rucks and some beautiful backline plays resulted in some crowd pleasing tries and in two comfortable wins.

Coaches Alan Cooper and Richard Bailey were delighted with the youngsters.

'The performances at the weekend were the result of a super bunch of young lads playing with and for each other,' they said. 'Many of then are very new to rugby but are just super committed and hungry to learn the game.'

The players and coaches were grateful to all the parents and club members for their amazing support on the day.

This Sunday the team take on their counterparts from Crusaders RFC at Little Melton.