March Bears RFC report: 43-20 loss against Fakenham
March Bears lost to Fakenham 43-20 in the Eastern Counties 2 match on Saturday.
Missing six regular first-team players due to injury, and with two more pulling up during warm-up, March Bears fielded only two regular backs in the starting line-up.
Despite these setbacks, they managed to hold Fakenham well in the first half, only losing ground near the end of the second half.
March opened the scoring within the first five minutes with a penalty, taken by Tom Lumley.
March managed to hold Fakenham well for the first half (Image: Supplied) However, Fakenham quickly responded with a converted try and an unconverted try, taking the score to 12-3.
Substitute Kyle Stanford, who was named Man of the Match, brought the score back to 12-10 with a determined try.
Fakenham quickly widened the gap again with another converted try.
However, March Bears' Henry Mair scored their second try right on half-time, bringing the score to a close 19-15.
The second half saw March Bears valiantly resisting repeated Fakenham attacks.
With Scott Conway off with a serious collar bone injury Kyle Stanford came on as substitute and turned it into a Man of the Match (Image: Supplied) However, Fakenham's fly-half and centre managed to score two quick tries, taking the score to 31-15.
March Bears responded with a try from Harvey Davies, narrowing the score to 31-20, but further injuries left March Bears struggling.
Two more scores from Fakenham took the score to 43-20 with 15 minutes still to play.
Despite being out of position, the March Bears team continued to fight fiercely until the end.
The final score was 43-20 in favour of Fakenham.
March opened the scoring in the first 5 minutes with a penalty for Fakenham not rolling away (Image: Supplied) The match took place on February 1.
Despite the loss, the disjointed Bears line-up was praised for their resilience and determination.
The team, even with many players out of position, fought from the start to the end and did the March Bears name proud.
The match took place on a perfect day for rugby, with no wind or rain.
