Lowestoft and Yarmouth have been hit by a five point deduction – for a rule breach that took place last season.

New coach Phil Sharpe has found himself punished for something that took place before he joined the club after the RFU opted to carry over a punishment arising from the club's trip to Chelmsford at the tail end of the 2012-13 campaign.

Lowestoft and Yarmouth were struggling to raise a side for the game and a desperate late search for players saw them include one who was not registered to play in London 2NE.

Rather than dock the five points last season, when the penalty would have had no effect, the game's governing body decided it should apply to the new season, meaning an already disappointing start has suddenly become even more worrying for the club. Sharpe's new-look young team lost heavily at Braintree in their opener and were then denied a win – and even a bonus point – on Saturday when Norwich came from behind in the dying minutes to pip them 26-17 at Beeston Hyrne.

Club officials are considering their response to the ruling and are not commenting on the situation at present, with everyone's main focus now on tomorrow's home match against Holt.

Holt are in a confident mood following their 50-5 home victory over Stowmarket. Reflecting on the first half, that saw Holt score seven of their eight tries, three by Woodfordes man of the match, Ashley Woods, forwards coach, Penny Chapman said: 'It was an excellent team performance, that saw us do most things right. Ed (Steed) and I agreed it was best we've seen a Holt side play in the six seasons we've coached together. The forwards dominated, providing a platform for our backs, who not only contained Stowmarket's formidable backline but had them on the back foot.'

Steed added: 'What was especially satisfying was that virtually all our tries had involved, either directly or in the build-up, flowing moves over several phases, with passes being exchanged between forwards and backs. We've seen this in periods of games but never over a sustained period like it was in the first half of this game.'

Looking forward to tomorrow's game, Holt will be keen to exploit any weakness Lowestoft show in the scrum, an area they appeared to struggle with against Norwich, conceding two tries from the set piece, one a penalty try for repeat offending.

'If our pack plays as well as it did last week, then I am confident we can dominate in this area,' said forwards coach Chapman, while at the same time insisting there was no place for complacency.

This cautionary note was echoed by backs coach Steed, who added: 'We are under no illusions that they have players that can hurt us if we don't perform and so must approach the game in a professional manner.'

The second and third teams have difficult fixtures in their respective Woodfordes Merit Tables, with the seconds at home to Dereham (3) and the third away to Norwich Medics, with a 1.30pm kick off.