Wisbech suffer defeat at league leaders Shelford in Eastern Counties clash

Shelford 24 Wisbech 0

Wisbech were far from disgraced at league leaders Shelford in their opening Counties 1 Eastern Counties League fixture of 2024.

The hosts, who showed great heart and stamina, registered three tries and were also awarded a penalty try to gain a vital bonus point to remain at the summit.

Wisbech - currently bottom of the league - knew they had to be at their best to come close to causing an upset.

The final scoreline flattered Shelford a little bit and with 15 minutes to go Wisbech were still in range to do the unthinkable.

While the Wisbech lineout was dominated on the whole, the scrum crucially went toe-to-toe with Wisbech slowly getting the upper hand.

Wisbech's defence and breakdown work proved exceptional they also showed they can attack from deep but fell short in being clinical as two opportunities to score were missed in the first half and another couple in the second half.

Head coach Gerhard Wessels said: "It was the perfect match for us as we have been low on confidence as a squad we worked hard this week in training, tweaking our attack and defence it was pleasing to see things coming together specially against a team like Shelford.

“We knew Shelford were going to bring it to us and they did, how we managed to stay on point mentally was fantastic, how we defended and attacked at times was the big plus side of our performance.

"If that's the sign of things to come, we're going to be looking forward to the next game, hopefully that pushes us along.

“I’m delighted with the performance, yes the result did not go our way but it’s a step in the right direction and this will give us a lot of confidence knowing we can go toe-to-toe with the best in this league.

“We will keep working and fighting for our town and club to make them proud.

“Fair play to the boys for playing so well today. “Shelford is an outstanding team and they are not top for no reason.

“All our focus will be on Cantabs to keep improving and the results will come.”

Wisbech centre Chiko was outstanding in defence and with the ball in hand posed a threat to the Shelford defence and was named Wisbech player-of-the-match.

Wisbech welcome Cantabs to Harecroft Road on Saturday for round 14 of the Counties 1 Eastern Counties league, kick-off 2pm.