North Walsham were on the wrong end of another dismal looking scoreline - but it could all have been so different had they taken their chances in the first 20 minutes.

North Walsham were on the wrong end of another dismal looking scoreline - but it could all have been so different had they taken their chances in the first 20 minutes.

But in the end Vikings lost 32-5 to hosts Hertford.

At the quarter mark the Vikings should have been 20 points to the good but instead were looking at a 15-point deficit and a mountain to climb.

Despite the two sides playing a vastly different style of rugby this was a good game to watch, well refereed, with no controversy and no yellow cards.

Walsham made one significant change to their line-up, moving Rhys Davies-Horne from wing to outside half, a big challenge for a 17-year-old and one he coped with well.

Walsham should have been ahead in the first couple of minutes but a forward's decision to kick ahead when there was an overlap blew the chance.

Hertford cleared their lines and from a lineout used quick hands to put full back Stuart Smart over. Recycling the ball well, Walsham returned to the attack and Chris Kent was thwarted by a wicked bounce with the line beckoning.

A third chance went begging when Tom Holt, with one player to beat, saw the final pass fly well over his head.

Another break-out by the home side and some weak tackling by Walsham enabled wing Alistair Fox to score a second try.

A 10-point lead rapidly became 15 with the try of the game. Centre Jon Childs broke from half-way and outside half Robbie Miller threw an outrageous behind the back pass to David von Kotze, who powered over.

Territorially Walsham dominated the remainder of the half. Holt crossed the stripe, but was deemed to have put a foot in touch, and a four man overlap was wiped out by a dropped pass.

Three minutes into the second half and the game was effectively won and lost. Walsham failed to claim their own line-out and a couple of mistimed tackles allowed the impressive van Kotze to make it a double. Left-wing Roberts then made the most of a half chance to stretch Hertford's lead to 25-0.

With time running out a good run by replacement Steve Small split the defence and Childs scored between the posts, with stand-in kicker Smart finally adding the extras.

In the final minute Walsham's never-say-die attitude paid off when a quickly taken penalty by Sandberg was sent to Chris Godwin and his 40 metre run ended as he dragged a couple of tacklers over the line for a well-deserved score.