Westcombe Park 29 v 24 Nth Walsham

Rugby Union National League Three

THIS was the third time these two clubs have met this season with North Walsham having won both at their home in Norfolk, writes Mike Attewell.

But neither of the previous games promised the feast of rugby on display at Goddington Dene, Orpington, in this National League Three South fixture.

Defending their position at the top of the table North Walsham started with speed and strength.

Within five minutes they missed a penalty but scored through an Iain Beck try and Andy Dickson conversion.

Westcombe replied in identical fashion by missing their own penalty and then scoring through man-of-the-moment Tom Hayman with Sam Barnett adding the points with his boot.

Hayman has been named as National Club Association's Player of the Month, which depends on the opposition's views.

The game ebbed and flowed with both sides having to stop the opposition's good work rather than rely on their mistakes.

On 32 minutes Mattys Eksteen broke through the lines, first on his knees and then his belly, juggling the ball skillfully to the try line but the conversion was missed.

The remainder of the half saw the same end-to-end play until the Vikings laid siege to the Combe line which, try as they might, Combe just could not resist.

Inevitably, following numerous line outs and scrums, the visitors bundled the ball over for a try which Dickson converted to give his side a 14-12 interval lead.

The second half carried on where the first finished with three tries in the first 15 minutes.

Combe's Eksteen started the scoring with his second try, again in the right corner, but without the conversion their slim three-point lead was quickly reversed when the Viking's Tim Malone went over for a try and Dickson added the conversion to restore the visitor's lead to four points.

The hosts regained the lead by a single point when Leandre Van Dyk finished a fine three-quarters move in the right corner for an unconverted try and they held onto it until the 72nd minute when Dickson wrestled the lead back for North Walsham with a penalty kick.

The game and the tension was as tight as the scoring and despite the cavalier way Combe were attacking they had to wait until the very end of normal time to score the winning points.

Hero of the hour was fly-half James Whittingham who found a gap in the visitors' defence to break through and score under the posts and it was left to Barnett to kick the conversion and herald the final whistle and a significant win.

Westcombe Park are now eighth in the division and they now travel to second-from-bottom Old Patesians this weekend.