IN a difficult wind on a softening pitch Haverhill produced a comeback in Norfolk to record their second win of the league campaign and move into the top half of the table.
Haverhill were caught a little cold in the first 15 minutes, falling behind to two tries, one converted, by a Dereham side looking to continue their run of wins over Haverhill in recent seasons.
The shock of being 12-0 down galvanised the team int
o action and the forwards, led from the front by captain Bergin, started to impose themselves.
A series of drives, the most telling by Ransome, culminated in a try for Bergin which was converted by Plumridge and from this point on Haverhill had the upper hand.
They slipped a little further behind to a penalty kick but came within one point when, after some constructive play in the backs, Plumridge broke clear and jinked some 30 metres to score under the posts, converting his own try and bringing the score to 15-14.
The second half was a closely fought competition with Haverhill edging it by two penalty scores to nil.
The forwards continued to be immense, denying any decent ball to the home side.
With the score at 20-15 to Haverhill, Dereham put everything they had into the last ten minutes to try to get the score they needed for a draw or win but Haverhill's defence was magnificent.
The young backs tackled above their weight and, best of all, they didn't concede silly penalties and lose the game that way.
With a minute to go Haverhill finally cleared their line and the game ended on the Dereham line with Haverhill attacking once again.
The full article contains 289 words and appears in Haverhill Echo newspaper.
