Last Saturday Fakenham hosted Hadleigh in the first game of the Eastern Counties 1 Shield competition, this shield competition sees the top 2 sides from each of EC1 North, South and West competing for overall champion status and promotion.
Fakenham started well, collecting the Hadleigh kick off and running through the phases to bring the game play into the Hadleigh half of the pitch.
Fakenham moved closer to the Hadleigh line attacking with both forwards and backs.
The first score resulted from a Lloyd Marshall grubber kick behind the Hadleigh defensive line. Marshall was just unable to gather the kick but flank forward Howard Kellock was 2nd to the ball and gathered it for an easy touchdown, converted by Lloyd Marshall.
Fakenham’s second try soon followed. Aggressive in attack and with good running lines the home side were dynamic, and this play moved Fakenham right up to the Hadleigh line. A surging run from prop Jack Powell-Thorne took him to within 1 meter of the line and his front row counterpart Callum Frost saw an opening just around the side of the ensuing ruck which he could power through for the try, again converted by Marshall.
Hadleigh were now 14-0 behind within the

Fakenham hosted Norwich Medics in their final EC1 North league game. Having played 13, won 13 with bonus point wins. Fakenham were on a mission to win this league game to make it a clean sweep before starting the second phase of the promotion play offs.
This was a challenging game in difficult weather and pitch conditions but Fakenham finally pushed through to take the bonus point win for the clean sweep.
It was to be one of those games with sides camped in the oppositions half for long periods. Medics keep Fakenham honest throughout the game, forcing them to defend, often for long periods, whilst they tried for their own win.
Fakenham were to score two first half tries with one converted by Lloyd Marshall, the first from Murray Tindal and an interception by Josh Gee resulted in an excellent solo second try.
The second half saw Medics score an unconverted try of their own after a sharp passing movement put their centre clean

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