Wisbech suffer first defeat of the season in A47 derby against West Norfolk

Wisbech's unbeaten run was halted on Saturday after a disappointing 24-26 loss against West Norfolk at Harecroft Road.

Tries from Henry Lankfer, Jos Anderson, a brace from Will Borham and a Bowsers man-of-the-match performance from veteran hooker Nathaniel Humphreys were not enough for the Men in Red to secure the win, despite the visitors being restricted to only two tries.

Wisbech director of rugby Leonard Veenendaal said: "Make no mistake West Norfolk were good, they were patient and took their opportunities well.

“We had a couple of opportunities to execute some plays and we dropped the ball, so from that point of view there’s a good lesson there for how accurate you’ve got to be against the top sides in this league.

“We made several really poor decisions in crucial parts of the game when we were leading 24-23 in our 22-metre area should have played territory first, but the moment got to us opting to play too much rugby in our half and it cost us dearly which was not what the situation needed.

“But I think their ability to stay in the fight – they never threw the towel in – and then to fight back and score four tries against top-class opposition like West is pleasing.”

Wisbech made the perfect start 15 minutes into the game with a trademark Henry Lankfer before exchanging passes with Jack Malkin and bursting over for the opening try.

West Norfolk replied with a try of their own with West fly-half Jack Wicks converting to put the visitors 7-5 in the lead.

The visitors maintained their pressure well as they added a further three points on the board through a Wicks penalty to extend their lead to 10-5.

But the Men in Red replied scoring an excellent try when Will Borham burst through the defence before a delightful little dummy pass set him free to dive over in the right-hand corner.

Ten minutes later, West Norfolk registered their second try to level the scores going into the break.

West took the lead after the break with a well-taken drop goal to make it 13-10.

Wisbech were punished for ill-discipline when MJ Wright was shown a yellow card for a high tackle and Wicks was on target with the penalty to extend the lead.

Wisbech's offensive defence was paying dividends, a dominant James Napier tackle turned the ball over deep in the West 22-meter area and after several good carries from the forwards, Josh Anderson drove over the line, Malkin added the extras to give the hosts a one-point lead.

But the lead was short-lived as West Norfolk replied with a converted try of their own to reclaim make it 23-17.

Wisbech went back on the attack after an outstanding 50/22 kick from Darryl Veenendaal put the Men in Red deep in West territory.

A quick tap penalty released Will Boreham who powered his way over the whitewash for his second try and Malkin converted and Wisbech led 24-23.

West Norfolk dispatched another successful penalty to snatch the lead 24-26 with less than five minutes to play.

A further two opportunities went astray when the Wisbech had two penalty kicks drift to the right.

West withstood late pressure from the Men in Red as they continued to manage the game well and saw out the win.

Wisbech will hope to bounce back to winning ways when they host Woodbridge on Saturday (3pm).