Southwold bow out of Senior Vase despite brave fightback in Surrey

The hosts got their noses in front through an early penalty before young Ben Felton missed a chance to level from distance seven minutes later.

The OCs were soon 6-0 ahead after converting another penalty but Southwold were having plenty of possession and Cemil Duruk was tackled right on the try line as they pressed.

Despite the away pressure it was OCs who scored the first try of the game when, from a scrum just in their own half, the ball was won and simply fed down the line to the winger who stepped in side his man and ran 40 metres to score and with the conversion good, the score moved up to 13-0.

The second half also started with an OCs' score in under a minute. A good clearing kick from Ollie Carlstrom sailed high and wide to the halfway line but the same winger who had scored the first try gathered the ball and ran down the line at pace to score in the corner. Again the conversion was good and Wold were down by 20 points.

It got even tougher for Wold when James Barton was yellow carded for a deliberate obstruction but they reacted well and a powerful drive ended with the evergreen Des Brett diving in for a try in the corner which Felton duly converted.

On 65 minutes Wold, now totally dominant, scored again when they were awarded a penalty and chose a scrum five. The pack duly shoved OCs back and James Hall at No 8 picked up and smashed his way over.

Felton, who had slotted earlier from the touchline, hit the post with his conversion attempt from only just left of the posts, meaning there was still a two score difference between the sides.

The visitors continued to pile on the pressure but were unable to score again and OCs made absolutely sure of victory with a beautiful kick from way out on the left after being awarded a penalty for a high tackle.

Thetford also bowed out of the competition at the regional third round stage, going down 31-19 at home to Bromley.