Great Yarmouth Town will be putting their faith in youth as they battle against relegation from the top tier of the Thurlow Nunn League.

Eastern Daily Press: Gorleston's Joel Watts can't get through.Gorleston's Joel Watts can't get through. (Image: Archant)

The Bloaters finally ended a run of nine successive league defeats last weekend when they beat Newmarket 2-0 at The Wellesley.

They remain bottom of the table but are now just three points behind Framlingham Town with two games in hand, with Hadleigh a further four points better off, having played one more fixture. There is now something to build on ahead of Saturday's trip to mid-table Haverhill Rovers and next week's big Boxing Day fixture at home to neighbours Gorleston and joint manager Adam Mason is happy to put the club's immediate future in the hands of a predominantly young squad.

'We had a club meeting this week with all the club's sides where over 60 people turned up. We talked about the fact that all senior sides are young due to the resource constraints we have at the club and we are willing to trust these lads to gain experience at this level.

'As a result we may have to take a step back but ultimately everyone bought into the fact we have a vision to deliver a long-term development plan.'

Mason admitted it was a pleasant surprise to see his fresh-faced side finally get back to winning ways, having thrown away a 2-1 lead late on at Ely City the previous weekend to lose 3-2.

'I didn't see our first home win and clean sheet coming if I'm honest,' he said. 'We had eight senior players missing and Kingsley (Barnes) was struggling with a groin injury in goal. The squad we ended up with had an average age of 20. Huge credit must go to the young players who gave a perfect response to last week's huge disappointment.'

Kirkley & Pakefield have a special Christmas promotion for their match against Hadleigh at Walmer Road.

Supporters can pay what they want at the gate for a game that could see the Royals climb as high as fourth in the table.

Norwich United will be aiming to end a miserable run of 10 straight league defeats when they welcome Gorleston to Plantation Park. It will be a first home game in charge for new boss Cedric Anselin, whose reign started with a 4-2 defeat at leaders Histon last week. Anselin will be boosted by the return of Harry Barker while Craig Bussens and Ben Jones are in the squad after lengthy injury lay-offs.

Elsewhere Wroxham are at Newmarket.