All North Walsham hopes of making it three wins in a row disappeared with a poor performance last week in the 22-0 defeat by Bishop's Stortford so it is back with a fresh start this Saturday when Portsmouth are the visitors to Scottow.

All North Walsham hopes of making it three wins in a row disappeared with a poor performance last week in the 22-0 defeat by Bishop's Stortford so it is back with a fresh start this Saturday when Portsmouth are the visitors to Scottow.

Once again there is not just the need to win but to win well, and try and get the much-needed bonus point and at the same time banish the memory of the away defeat.

When the sides met in October the result was a win for the Hampshire side 19-10 but Walsham had so much territorial advantage in that game they should have won and won comfortably.

Instead, they infringed so much that even when attacking they conceded penalties and then with a bonus point in the bag conceded a soft try which sent them home empty handed.

That win was just one of three that Portsmouth have managed this season and they are currently three places above bottom side Tring, with whom they drew, and have yet to register a win 'on the road'.

The Raiders are without a game but the Warriors resume at Diss.

North Walsham progressed smoothly into the final of the U17's Eastern Counties Cup with a solid win over a Cambridge side who were denied quality possession and when they did have the ball found the defence impenetrable.

Walsham dominated the early exchanges and with nine minutes on the clock Harry Downing forced his way over, Henry Dewing converting.

The second try was right out of the top drawer, Harry Downing taking the crash ball in the midfield weaved his way up to the 22, dummied and then passed to open side Alex Dye to go through between the posts, Dewing again adding the conversion and on the half hour a penalty to take the half-time score to 17-0.

Cambridge were constantly being turned over by the more mobile Walsham forwards who moved the ball wide at every opportunity and were denied a try in the corner when a foot was put into touch inches from the line. However the move was replicated shortly afterwards and outside-half Callum Caldwell made the tryline.

The referee issued three yellow cards in the space of six minutes, two of them to Walsham, who had to defend in numbers before camping in the Cambridge half for the final 10 minutes. Dewing added two penalties to set up a final meeting at Scottow with the winner of the other semi-final between Colchester and Shelford or Norwich on Sunday, February 7, ko 2pm.