Norfolk Bowl Final win for L&Y 2ndXV

On a sunny morning up at the Big Norfolk Rugby Day hosted by North Walsham RFC, L&Y deservedly won a lovely cut glass Bowl for the trophy cabinet and mark the end of a successful season.

Fielding a genuine 2ndXV with a good mix of regular 2nds, a few old-uns, and a few guys on the fringes of the 1stXV, or who haven't played much this season, L&Y felt reasonably confident going into the game. It was soon apparent Holt weren't there to make up numbers and were typically robust and competitive all around the park. Despite giving away a decent amount of size, L&Y's forwards took the fight to them and settled into their patterns with some stout defence and solid set piece.

Karl Woolf, Frazer Lemmon and Nick Coules held their own well in the front row against bigger opponents, and Lemmons throwing in was accurate all game, allowing jumpers Syd Butcher and Josh Beamish to win their own ball and compete for Holts. Kyle Hallam commanded things well at 9 and Dan Lewis, playing his first game for 6 years started well at 10 with two searing breaks before succumbing to a dislocated shoulder on the hard ground. His replacement Tyler Beales, himself fresh back into the game after a three year break, came on and despite a dodgy hamstring proceeded to rule the game.

L&Y were making ground every time they went wide and knew eventually their superior fitness and speed would tell. That was essentially the pattern of the match. Beales scored the first try after 25 minutes with a quick dart and dive over the line after some neat play got L&Y into the Holt 22. He converted then Holt made the mistake of kicking to fullback Ethan Harrowven who was playing his last competitive match for L&Y before emigrating to Australia. The speedster made a couple of long returns before then tearing up the pitch from a full 90m for a superb solo score weaving inside and outside the oppositions flailing defenders. Holt replied toward the end of the period with a beautifully worked try for their centre making it 12-5 at the break.

Changes were made at half time with Josh Williamson and Peej Cook coming on in the front row, plus a couple of injuries to Hallam and Louis Smedley meant ancient scrum half Phil "PB" Baker dusted off his boots for the final 30 minutes to challenge Russ Wilkinson as the oldest L&Y player on the pitch. If anything things improved but, rather than Baker claiming his influence, it was more likely that Holt were tiring and the younger members of the L&Y side found more room.

Three further tries from L&Y sealed the game and the crystal bowl. First centre George Tomlinson showed his power by venting his frustrations on his opposite number and charging through three defenders to score on the left. A break by Beales and a "Russell Ball" run by Wilkinson led to Williamson being held up over the line. When the ball was kicked straight out, captain Robbie Gardiner broke off the base of the resulting scrum and dived over. Gardiner made another break from his own half to give position on the Holt 22 and PB showed his wily skills to steal the ball from his opposite number and scuttle off towards the line. A slow motion swerve and a dart for the line sent him over to loud cheers and for Beales to convert. Williamson rounded things off after some lovely play took the ball to the Holt line and he emerged to claim the credit.

All in all an enjoyable and successful end to the year. Next season we need to build on the great attitude, encourage more people to make themselves available on a more regular basis, and look forward to seeing some of the existing Colts XV coming through to join in the fun.