Wisbech Town Rugby Club beat North Walsham Raiders in Counties 2 Eastern Counties League

Wisbech reclaimed top spot in the table with a convincing 19-5 win over North Walsham Raiders.

The Men in Red made it six consecutive wins and secured an unbeaten home record in the Counties 2 Eastern Counties League at Harecroft Road at the weekend.

Wisbech narrowly lost 9-0 in the reverse fixture back in November, and with both sides knowing the winner would almost certainly win the league, it took a mammoth effort from the Men in Red to secure the win in front of more than 250 enthusiastic supporters.

Wisbech started on the front foot with a try 15 minutes into the match.

Wisbech pinned Walsham back in their own 22-meter area with several phases of attack and set up a ruck five meters from the try line, with Raimondas Vinksna rounding off a number of pick and goes to power over the line for the 5five-pointer.

Skipper Jack Malkin converted to give the home side a 7-0 lead.

An intense period followed, with both sides battling tirelessly to make ground.

Wisbech went up a gear and a sustained piece of attacking play took them back into the Walsham 22-meter.

From a ruck ten meters out, Gerhard Wessels - with some fine footwork - made a half break before offloading to fullback Sam Anderson who crashed over for the five pointer.

Malkin again converted to give the home side a 14-0 advantage.

The match was incredibly tight throughout the second half, with both sides seeing a lot of the ball in the early stages.

The introduction of Luke Green, Ollie Lake and Will Boreham off the bench for Wisbech ten minutes in to the second period made a real impact and reasserted the Wisbech dominance.

Walsham under pressure kicked long, and wing Lewis Haddon - who has been in fine form - gathered the ball, beating two chasing defenders, and set off on a scintillating run deep into the Walsham half.

From the ensuing ruck Wisbech made their pressure count, a quick ball finding Wisbech pocket rocket Ethan Garford, who shrugged off two defenders and with an electric turn of pace rounded off a fine attacking move with a third try in the corner for Wisbech.

The conversion was missed and the score stood at 19-0 with 30 minutes to play.

Wisbech started to force their play and a lack of patience with ball in hand saw a series of failed attempts to convert their chances as they didn’t capitalise on strong positions throughout the rest of the half.

Uncharacteristically, the Men in Red moved away from their attacking game - which had served them so well up to then - to a conservative approach, defending their lead and waiting for possible Walsham mistakes.

This would allow Walsham, who started to fight back, to win a penalty - which they took quickly, their intensity in attack testing the Men in Reds’ defence.

In the 76th minute Walsham capitalised on a Wisbech yellow card, making their pressure count by scoring a try through Jon Younie. The conversion was missed and the score stood at 19-5.

Wisbech were now playing with 14 men and the referee playing an extra six minutes, setting up a tense final ten minutes which saw them come close to a fourth bonus point try with several fumbles letting them down.

Walsham were equally unfortunate not to convert chances of their own.

Ultimately, it was Wisbech who took the spoils 19-5 and return to the top of the table in a fantastic match of Counties 2 Eastern Counties league rugby.

To a man, the 18 man squad delivered a hard fought battle - as would be expected in a top of the table clash against a very good side.

Solomon Prestidge, Ethan Garford, Bradley Williams, Skipper jack Malkin and Lewis Haddon deserve to be mentioned, but 20-year-old Luke Hare, who was simply outstanding, was awarded the Wisbech Round Table man of the match.

Wisbech are now top of the league and have two matches remaining over the next two Saturdays, both away.

The first is away to Cambridge III at Volac Park this weekend.