Broadland were the only club in Norfolk to beat the big freeze on Saturday – and they were rewarded with an excellent victory which took them up to second position in Division Two of the Greene King Eastern Counties League.

With a fixture against Swaffham scheduled the Yarmouth-based club were able to delay their final pitch inspection until the morning of the match and were delighted when temperatures rose sufficiently for the match to go ahead.

'The pitch was rock hard on Friday but the forecast was for milder weather on Saturday and that's the way it turned out,' said club chairman Asa Morrison. 'We had a look in the morning and the pitch took a stud and was perfectly playable. We were obviously delighted to get the game on – and then continue our good start to the season with another win.'

It looked for long periods as though the visitors would be the ones to take advantage of the slight thaw as they moved into an early 11-6 lead but Broadland hit back with tries from Adam Towfighi, Rye Bilyard, Tom Weston and Liam Howlett to clinch an 28-11 victory.

Tom Weston also weighed in with a conversion and two penalties while young scrum half Phil Buckley was named man of the match.