Woodbridge Warriors travelled to face a much-changed Wisbech side, from the one they had beat 48-12 on November 5, and lost 39-12.
Very early on Wisbech showed their intent, their big forwards putting their opposite numbers under intense pressure.
In the first half, Wisbech starved the visitors of possession which in turn gave penalties against Woodbridge as they tried to steal illegally from the ruck.
Flanker Solomon Prestige and his second row Ben Chapman and Greg Brownlow raced down the right wing, demanding hard tackles from captain Tom Stokes, No 8 Jono Cooke and flanker Tim Johnson as the ‘route one’ option was chosen over and over again.
However, set-pieces were unreliable for Woodbridge, and a line-out led to an maul that set up Ben Wicks to score for the hosts.
Woodbridge were made to defend again straight away as the onslaught resumed and John Yorke and Ed Banthorp worked hard as the Wisbech pack pressed energetically, moving the ball confidently until Chapman found a gap and scored.
A good kick-off allowed Woodbridge into the Wisbech half, only for the home team to maul 35 metres, forcing a try-saving tackle from Stokes.
With the Warriors down to 14, Ben Wicks drove for James Bostock to score, before, from another maul from a line-out, the Woodbridge defence was drawn out and left an opportunity out wide which centre Connor Lucas was happy to fill, as the hosts made it four unanswered tries in the first half.
Wickes opened the scoring for the home team in the second half, before James Napier ended a short-lived foray forward from the visitors to add to the home side’s tally.
As the last quarter started, Woodbridge successfully breached the home 22 and won a penalty from which Jono Cooke bludgeoned his way across the line to avoid the whitewash.
The Warriors started to grub kick into Wisbech territory, winning a scrum just outside the 22, from which Stokes found himself running free towards the try line. After a hand-off, he scored.
Wisbech came back into the game in the final minutes, and James Patrick scored to make it 39-12.
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