Wisbech 1st XV won only their second game of the season after they narrowly defeated Ipswich Y.M. 17-16 on Saturday.

Wisbech had experienced defeat in their previous two away fixtures but started on the front foot against Ipswich, with Wisbech’s forwards putting pressure on the Ipswich pack. The away side were strong defensively and enjoyed the majority field position and possession. After several phases, Wisbech’s Raimondas Cook went over in the left hand corner for an unconverted try as the away side dominated.

Five minutes from half time, Albert Smith went on a solid run on the right hand touchline and was dragged down illegally by Ipswich’s defence. From the ensuring quick tap penalty the forwards carried the ball to five metres from the try line. An illegal infringement by the Ipswich forwards at the ruck awarded Wisbech another penalty and scrum half James Malkin took the quick tap and dived over for another unconverted try.

Wisbech started the second half strongly with William Boreham, James Napier and Harry Newman posing a threat with the ball. Minutes into the second period, Wisbech were awarded a scrum in the Ipswich 22 and James Malkin broke to the openside, fed the ball back to Sam Prestidge who went over for the Wisbech’s 3rd try which was converted by Dan Esser to give Wisbech a 17-6 lead.

Ipswich started a spirited fightback and replied with an unconverted try to bring the scores to 11-17. Wisbech suffered a meltdown in discipline giving away penalty after penalty, resulting in two Wisbech players being yellow carded in quick succession. Wisbech were on the back foot and on the stroke of full time Ipswich managed to bridge the Wisbech defence to score in the left had corner to bring the score to 16-17. Luckily for Wisbech, the try was not converted and Wisbech won the game by the narrowest of margins.

Wisbech coach Leonard Veenendall praised his players but said they lacked discipline, saying: “I thought in general all the lads played well, in particular James Malkin who was named man of the match.”

“It’s a win on the road and we will take it but I annoyed with our breakdown in discipline on the pitch. As a squad we have set a target to vastly improve on our discipline and I do not see it. There will have to be changes” said Veenendall, whose men are 5th in the Eastern Counties Greene King Division One.

Wisbech’s next fixture is a must-win clash with Cambridgeshire rivals Ely, who are yet to be defeated this season, on Saturday 24th October.