Beccles were defeated by second placed Rochford Hundred in the last of a run of three games against the sides at the top of the table.

The visitors fielded a young side which showed a lot of promise in places despite being beaten 38-13.

Beccles had a lot of their senior players unavailable or rested and gave a chance to a number of second team players who have been performing well.

In the pack Holmes got his first start in the second row and Hewitt was brought in to the back row. In the backs Davey-Durak came in to the centres and Long was given a debut on the wing. Beccles did have some older heads on the bench with Payne, Warnes and Johnstone totalling over 100 years of experience.

Rochford started well and were soon in front after some weak tackling let them in for a try. Beccles battled back and got on the score sheet with a Murray penalty.

They then put pressure on the Rochford line and Lake powered his way over to score, Murray missing the conversion.

Beccles were putting Rochford under pressure but missed tackles kept putting them on the back foot. The hosts then took charge and ran in three more tries to secure a bonus point and put themselves 24-8 ahead at the break.

The second half was a good deal more even. Rochford started with a try but Beccles then had a good spell of territory and possession. The line-out was going well with debutant Holmes, who put in a Musker McIntyre man of the match performance, winning a lot of ball. The forwards drove the ball well and Baksza was driven over the line for his first try for the club. Rochford managed one more try before the end.

Beccles now have two games against the sides just above them in the table and will need to come away with two wins to have any chance of escaping relegation.

The first is against Old Streetonians on Saturday at Beef Meadow and with a VIP lunch before the game a large crowd is expected.