Faced with several personnel and positional changes it was always going to be difficult for Holt against a well-drilled Cantabs side who are enjoying one of their best ever seasons.

Cantabs had a 35-point lead by half-time and looked set to put their hosts to the sword for the rest of the game.

But Holt responded with a gutsy four-try second-half performance.

Cantabs looked impressive from the kick-off, with their well-organised pack and speedy three-quarter line combining well to stretch the Holt defence to its limits. Within five minutes Nic Delan touched down for a try, converted by their impressive fly-half James Hayworth.

With Cantabs enjoying a constant supply of good possession, made possible by their excellent support play, it was not long before Ben Tozer and Paul Pudsey touched down for tries, converted by Hayworth. It was then the turn of Cantabs French winger, Franchise Eve, to show his pace for another converted try to increase their lead to 28-0.

Holt suffered further setbacks when Bruce van Poortvliet was yellow-carded and fly-half Ben Harvey left the field injured. Cantabs took advantage and their other winger, David Bloxey, darted over the line for a try converted by Hayworth to give them a big half-time advantage.

For the first few minutes of the second half it was more of the same for Cantabs, with Hayworth scoring under the posts and centre Pudsey scoring his second try, neither of which was converted, leaving the score at 45-0.

But as the second half progressed Holt began to settle into a productive period of play with their forwards working tirelessly to win a good share of possession. Second row Robbie Gray forced his way over the line to open the scoring for Holt and this was followed by a typical break by Van Poortvliet to reduce the deficit to 45-10.

Despite receiving a yellow card, Cantabs squeezed in one more try before Holt continued their fightback with tries by prop Aaron Cole and Woodfordes man of the match Blake Collings, who put in an impressive shift in the second row. None of Holt's tries was converted, leaving them 50-20 adrift at the final whistle.

Holt II continued their push for promotion with a 48-0 victory over Southwold II.