West Norfolk put Fakenham to sword in derby clash

West Norfolk U14s were given a treat fixture just down the road at Fakenham on Sunday.Straight from the whistle West did not shy away from the team’s debut clash with Fakenham, living up to expectations scoring an early try from Kody Somerton which Ben Taylor-Bunting converted.Fakenham displayed good strength and were very committed to all of West Norfolk’s challenges, but found it difficult to spread the ball wide for a counter.With West being the dominant force with their frontline it set the day for the natural order to gather possession gifting the ball tothe formidable back line lead by Jack Godfrey-Leggett who scored for Taylor-Bunting to convert making the score 14-0.The home team tried organising their defence to cope with the barrage from West for it only to be undone by a tantalising team try.Fast passing from a throw stretched Fakenham, only to see the back of Thomas Hardy’s studs. Taylor-Bunting got his hat trick of conversions. While West were enjoying their success Fakenham punished them with a quick response scoring their first try.A wake-up call for the travelling team and the return of Finley Smith-Parry was on hand to galvanise West Norfolk’s status scoring a well-fought run to the try line.The first 20 minutes ended with West Norfolk leading 26-7. Fakenham were resilient and fought hard in the rucks without much success and Godfrey-Leggett laid in wait for the pass so he could blast his way through, scoring again for Archie Thomson to convert.Cracks began to show in the home side’s defence which Hardy exploited scoring his second. The game was all being played in the home side’s half and it was only a matter of time before Theo Hobbs grabbed the ball and smashed his way through the crowd getting the ball to ground to score.Charlie Cooper added a cool conversion. With 15 minutes remaining and with West in full control, it enabled Thomson to play with freedom to glide past Fakenham like a ghost to score a beautiful try.A deserving try was scored by Lincoln Auker from a commanding West scrum which Taylor Bunting converted.Although this felt like the final nail in the coffin, a Fakenham kick was caught by Ethan Kilian in his own half and like a man possessed he flew by a spellbound home team delivering the try like a stake to the heart.Scores for the other quarters were: 5-26, 0-19 and 0-19.Thanks to match shirt sponsors JBC Roofing.