Following a derby day delight against Beccles 1st XV, Lowestoft and Yarmouth 1st XV looked to extend their impressive winning streak against a strong and well-drilled Swaffham team at Gunton Park.

Lowestoft and Yarmouth struck first blood. Toby Mancini opened the scoring with his first try of the game. Harry Crannage then successfully converted the try to give L&Y a seven point lead.

7-0

L&Y were quick to double their lead. After a strong and secure scrum within L&Y’s twenty two, the ball was played through the hands out right. Louis Smedley carried the ball up to the halfway line before passing to Frankie Stockman who injected his electric pace onto the ball, evaded a diving tackle attempt and went all the way to ground the ball beneath the posts, cementing himself with a try on his return back to the first team. Harry Crannage comfortably slotted the conversion home to earn L&Y an extra two points.

14-0

L&Y soon scored another try. A Swaffham goal line drop out was collected by Ben Parr, the scrum half passed the ball out left to Alex Marshall who heard the calls of an onrushing Louis Smedley, who hit the inside channel beautifully, allowing him to burst through the line and score for L&Y. Harry Crannage once again converted to further the score to twenty one points.

21-0

Swaffham worked their way back into the game and maintained possession through a number of phases. However, unable to break down the tenacious L&Y defence they opted for a drop goal attempt, which was successful, reducing the deficit by three points.

21-3

Despite Swaffham slowly working their way back into the game, Lowestoft and Yarmouth responded well after conceding and found themselves pushing Swaffham back, keeping them pinned within five metres of their try line. After sustained pressure, L&Y forced a turnover. Rei Haare passed the ball to Kian Cook who showed great strength and muscled his way over the try line to score. Harry Crannage was again successful in converting for two points.

Half-Time 28-3.

L&Y brought their unrelenting intensity into the second half with them. After a dominant attacking scrum on Swaffham’s twenty two, simple hands was all it took to break Swaffham down. The ball was played all the way out to the left wing where Toby Mancini produced a lovely step inside to lose the Swaffham defender and give him room to score his second of the day.

33-3

Swaffham’s persistence eventually paid off for them. After winning a lineout on L&Y’s five metre line, Swaffham used their forwards to maul and gain them some extra yards before passing the ball off right, allowing the backs to edge them even closer to the try line. Play was then recycled back left to a pod of forwards where the visitors bundled over the line for a try.

33-8

L&Y were once again quick to respond after conceding. Louis Smedley returned a kick from Swaffham, breaking through a plethora of tackles, taking the ball to just over halfway before passing it to Rei Haare. He then produced a well-timed pass to Harry Crannage who burst into the space and scored the fifth try for L&Y. Harry continued his impressive record and once again converted to take L&Y into the forties.

40-8

L&Y found themselves with a lineout just inside Swaffham territory. Harry Norman secured the ball in the lineout before sniping through a gap in Swaffham’s defence, showing great pace and power to carry the ball all the way to the visitor’s five metre line. He then offloaded to Owen Rudd who ran the ball over the line and beneath the posts to extend the lead for L&Y. Harry Crannage converted for an additional two points.

47-8

Mere minutes later, L&Y found themselves adding even more points to the board. The move started on the half way line with an array of quick and effective offloads which allowed the home team to carry the ball up the field before it was passed into the arms of Toby Mancini who once again had far too much pace for Swaffham to deal with, allowing him to score his third of the game beneath the posts. Harry Crannage converted for two extra points.

54-8

L&Y stole a Swaffham lineout deep in the visitors territory. L&Y were quick to react and fizzed the ball all the way down the line. Frankie Stockman caught the ball on the right wing, stepped back inside and grounded it for his second of the game.

59-8

The final try of the day came at the hands of Alex Marshall. With the ball just inside their own half, L&Y passed the ball down the line before Louis Smedley broke through Swaffham’s defence. With options to his left and his right, Louis tipped the ball outside to Alex Marshall who sprinted the rest of the way and scored beneath the posts. Harry Crannage once again nailed the conversion to take L&Y to sixty six points.

66-8

Full time.

It was another successful afternoon at Gunton Park, with the home team coming away with an impressive win. The man of the matches were Toby Mancini for his superb hat-trick and Frankie Stockman for a stellar performance after his return from injury.

Next fixture will be against Watton RUFC on Saturday 15th March at Gunton Park, 3pm kick off.

Match report by Harry Postill