Wymondham put last Saturday's RFU Vase semi-final defeat behind them when they beat neighbours Crusaders to stay right in the hunt for the Greene King Eastern Counties Division One title.

The early pressure was applied by Wymondham and after seven minutes the ball was fed by James Wyatt via Steve Simms and Onisimo Sagakalele to Alex Brugger for him to score in the corner.

Crusaders profited on the errors to score an unconverted try of their own but Wymondham responded and Tom Wilson nearly broke through and Wyatt again fed Simms who saw a gap and scored a try which he converted himself to make it 12-5 after 18 minutes.

More errors by Wymondham, coupled with a yellow card, helped Crusaders level again with a converted try and as the mistakes continued the visitors notched another converted score to take a 19-12 lead after 27 minutes.

When back up to 15 Wymondham went back on the attack and when Martin was stopped by a high tackle Josh Wright was up in close support to score an unconverted try.

Wymondham were still struggling to find their form but Wyatt took the chance to feed Simms who saw the gap and promptly went through it to score a good converted try to make the score 24-19, earning the hosts the bonus point, and so it stayed until half time.

Wymondham started the second half in a determined mood and immediately started to exert pressure on the visitors' line and from a line-out in the ball was tidied up by Josh Mickleburgh and fed through the backs for Wilson to again break through and score a converted try.

The game began to be stop-start with numerous chats to both captains by the referee and a few injuries occurring. But legal aggressive defence puts pressure on an attacking force and the Wymondham back row were now everywhere, causing problems to Crusaders.

Henry Petch and Andy Mackay turned over an attacking ball and Wymondham moved into the visitors' half where even more forward pressure saw Simms feed Wilson again on a burst to score another converted try to make it 38-19.

With 15 minutes to go, defensive pressure again allowed the ball to go loose, and again Sagakalele was on to it in a flash, hacking it through and chasing up to retrieve the ball and score another converted try.

Three minutes later another break by Sagakalele then saw him feed the ball out, passing through Nick Ferns, Alex Wigney and Brugger to Wyatt who outstripped the defence to score the final converted try of the game.

This was an important bonus point win for the hosts as they remain nine points behind Ipswich YM but have two games in hand and face them away next week in another crucial fixture which may decide the fate of this league.