Swaffham Rugby Club maintained their leadership of Eastern Counties Two with a 41-3 away thumping of Mistley.

After five successive wins in league and cup, Swaffham made changes to their squad. This saw possibly the youngest ever half back partnership in a Swaffham side with Colts Matt Clarke and Joe Milligan taking the place of regulars Daniel Clarke and Daniel Spencer.

The dominant Swaffham lineout began with a catch and drive on the Mistley line which saw Dean Keats come up with the try.

Swaffham controlled the breakdown area well and despite terrible conditions were able to attack with confidence. A second try arrived when Matty Taylor cut a great line through the Mistley defence and powered over under the posts.

A Mistley penalty was the only reward for the home side who spent most of the first half tackling bravely to keep the scoreline tight.

Playing against the elements in the second half it looked like Swaffham might have to revert to a territorial game. Instead they cut loose and played some of the most fluent rugby of the season.

An early try from Matt Clarke was the reward for quick thinking from Joe Milligan, who kicked into space behind the Mistley line.

A futher try followed from Rob Impey before the best try of game when Dean Keats scored in the corner after some patient phases in the Mistley 22.

Mistley continued to battle hard and looked likely to score a consolation but a monstrous tackle from Daniel Barnard stopped a certain try.

Late breakaway tries from Tommy Windibank saw Swaffham seal a superb victory to cement their position at the top of Eastern Counties Two.

With Norwics Medics losing and Broadland failing to pick up a bonus point, Swaffham have now moved two points clear at the top and nine points clear of third. Next up is a home clash with Haverhill on December 8.

Tries: Dean Keats 2, Tommy Windibank 2, Matt Clarke, Rob Impey, Matty Taylor. Conversions: Joe Milligan 3. Man of the Match: Joe Milligan.

n Swaffham 2nds copied the example of their senior team by also running in seven tries in a 39-12 win at Norwich 3rds. They were first on the score sheet as the forwards smashed a few phases up the park before quick hands saw Des Lloyd commit the last defender and pass to Tom Foulkes who sped over in the corner.

Norwich replied via their No 8, who rscored under the posts to make the conversion easy. And they repeated the move minutes later to lead 12-5.

Swaffham drew level with another score from Tom Foulkes, Ben Leary adding the extras.

Ben Leary’s quick tap led to Colin Scott slammed going over for a converted try to put Swaffham 19-12 ahead at the break.

In the second half Lee Woodward delivered a series of quick tackles on the Norwich full-back which resulted in a rushed clearance directly to Matt Warman, who ran the ball all the way from his 22 metre line to score under the posts. The conversion was good.

This opened the floodgates and further tries followed from Gladman, Tom Foulkes (for his hat-trick) and Myles Jenner.

Tries: Tom Foulkes (3), Colin Scott, Matt Warman, Myles Jenner & Ryan Gladman. Conversions; Ben Leary (2).

Impson Butchers Man of the Match: Ben Leary