North Walsham Vikings Rugby Club hosted Guernsey for their latest match, with the home team kicking off into a blustery wind but with the sun behind them.
A chip kick followed a strong break from Vikings’ Connor Dudley. The chase over the line was obstructed.
Referee Jack Sutton awarded a penalty try and a Guernsey yellow card with barely a minute gone.
A period of indeterminate play followed, ending in the 14th minute. Dudley made another strong break from his own 22 all the way to Guernsey’s 22 where he was hauled down, the ball going forward trying to force a pass to his supporting wing Tawanda Kandemwa.
In the 22nd minute a Guernsey line out on the Vikings 5m line was driven over but held up.
However, from the goal line drop out Guernsey worked the ball out to wing Ethan Smith who scored unconverted.
Smith improved this four minutes later. Intercepting a Vikings pass in the centres he galloped over for a try converted by Ciaran McGann.
The first half ended with the Vikings trailing 7-12.
The second half saw persistent rain with many more handling mistakes. On 60 minutes Guernsey’s Kieran Creber scored unconverted. Four minutes later, following some heavy pressure on the Guernsey line, Leo Langbridge burst through heavy traffic for a try converted by Ross Magnus.
This made it 14-17, a score from which the Vikings could win or at least secure a losing bonus point. With the majority of the possession and territory to Guernsey, this score held until the 84th minute when a penalty to Guernsey led to a 5m lineout on the Vikings line from which Brad Webb scored Guernsey’s bonus point try and shattered the Vikings' hopes of their first league points of the season.
The final score was a well-deserved 14-22 to Guernsey. The Vikings failed to capitalise on their opportunities and turned over the ball too often, mistakes which were punished severely by Guernsey,
Vikings' director of rugby Niall Lear said the outcome was disappointing
He said: "Guernsey came to win and we made too many mistakes both in attack and defence.”
Niall’s Lacons Brewery Man of the Match for the Vikings was debutant Archie Bryan.
Match report by Richard Hewitt
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