On a damp Saturday 20th January, Fakenham 1st XV travelled to local rivals Swaffham for their penultimate game of the first half of the season. The pitch was very heavy from the winters weather making running hard and handling loose. This played into the hands of the bigger pack of Swaffham and made it harder for Fakenham's incisive back line.
Fakenham's indiscipline set them back early on when the referee awarded a penalty against them for an infringement around the ruck. The kick was true and within the first couple of minutes Swaffham were leading 3 - 0.
As the half wore on Fakenham showed why they were the top of the Division. The conditions made handling difficult but Fakenham could still move the ball out to their wings who then outflanked the Swaffham defence and make ground up the pitch.
Swaffham were not a push over though as their big runners broke

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Last Saturday saw  Fakenham 1^st travel south to Diss to take on their 2nd XV.  The match started brightly for Fakenham with high intensity in the game play moving them up the field quickly.  The first score came within 5 minutes of the kickoff.  Fakenham reversed the direction of attack and Joe Bane-Young fed debutant flanker Rob Ward.  Ward initially juggled the catch, but once he had the ball secure, he broke a tackle and found himself with a 20 metre sprint to the line for the touchdown.

Fakenham kept up the pressure on Diss and it wasn’t long before the second score came.  Following a lineout, Fakenham ran a couple of phases with the forwards taking the play into the centre of the field.  With Diss’s defence drawn in, the space opened up back to the left.  Joe Bane-Young was again involved, this time giving the pass to Number 8 Howard Kellock who had an untouched 10 meter run to the line.

Diss were needing to get some momentum goinig in rder to establish a foothold in the game but again it was Fakenham who scored next.  Diss were trying to use their big forwards to set some phases together and work their way out of their own 22 but the ball was dislodged in a tackle and spilled out the side.  Howard Kellock was the first to react and scooping up the ball he headed for the line.  A simple pass was given and winger Brett Stolworthy was able to coast over the line.  This try was then converted by Lloyd Marshall.

With Fakenham leading by 17 points to nil Diss started to become

`````Saturday 6th January started with some bad news for Fakenham RUFC.  In the early hours of the morning, a gas canister was dragged across the pitch to the dugout, set alight and left to explode.  Thankfully no-one was hurt and the main building was undamaged, but it left a significant amount of debris on the pitch.  The club would like to extend its thanks to both the fire service and police who were quickly on the scene, and also to all the people who helped at the club throughout the morning to ensure the pitch was suitable for the game to go ahead.

Later in the day, both sides were in action, the 1st XV hosting Beccles 1st XV and the 2nd XV traveling to Wymondham 3rd XV. The 1st XV went into their fixture knowing a win would seal the Eastern Counties 1 (North) division for them and ensure they won through to the playoffs in the second half of the season as Division Champions.  The 1st half of the match was a competitive affair with both sides running hard and defending well.  Beccles had the first opportunity of points when Fakenham failed to deal with the catch from the kickoff and the infringement at the resulting breakdown led to a kickable penalty.  The normally reliable boot of the Beccles kicker pushed the kick wide though, a let-off for Fakenham. Fakenham showed the varied play that has taken them to the position they are now, the first score resulted from some strong composed forward play making hard yards in the final third of the field with Ashley Stewart touching down for the score.  The second try came soon after from