Lakenham U18 Ladies 17, Beccles U18 Ladies 10A battling performance from Beccles saw them go down to a late converted try in the final minutes of a high-quality game of rugby.

Lakenham U18 Ladies 17, Beccles U18 Ladies 10

A battling performance from Beccles saw them go down to a late converted try in the final minutes of a high-quality game of rugby.

Lakenham were on the score sheet first with an unconverted try, but from the restart Beccles pressurised the Lakenham girls into giving a series of penalties, which were repeatedly run at the try line, eventually with the forwards forcing themselves over for their first try, which was also unconverted.

The game mainly stayed in the Lakenham half, with the Beccles pack recycling the ball well.

With Ceri Masters' distribution, and probing runs from Sophie O'Neil and Katie Harber, it was only stout defence that prevented the Beccles girls from going ahead. Beccles survived a scare when a breakaway by Lakenham saw the first of several try-saving tackles from player-of-the-game Ellie Wosley.

In the second period Lakenham again broke away and managed to score another unconverted try, but again Beccles responded and good breaks from Ruby Gordon and Maria East put the forwards in a position where they could use their superiority to drive over for their second try.

As the game went into its final stages, the scrum had to go uncontested because the Lakenham girls could not take the pressure being exerted on them, which disrupted the Beccles attacking platform.

Beccles then went a player down because of an injury, which left a gap in the defence for the Lakenham No 8 to go over under the posts for the final score of the game.

This was a great team effort from the girls and they are looking forward to the return fixture in December.