Elliot’s hat-trick sinks Walsham

By RICHARD HOMER

Old Albanian……….. 31

North Walsham……. 7

A HAT-trick of tries by full-back Tobias Elliot led Old Albanian to a convincing win over North Walsham.

After more than a month since their last outing, OA could be excused the time it took to get back into the groove of the National League.

The long lay-off and wet and windy conditions explains why it took 15 minutes for OA to get on the scoresheet.

The first try was due to a fine interception. North Walsham went through several phases , taking the ball up to the OA 10m line, but the last past was intercepted and Elliot went 80m to score under the posts. Alex Noot converted.

On the stroke of halftime Elliot dotted down another and Noot again converted.

The second half started with a period of OA pressure, only interrupted after 48 minutes when an innocuous head contact left the referee with no choice but to red card OA tighthead Harry Samuel.

Noot kicked another penalty but the extra man inevitably led to North Walsham getting back in the game and Tom Stileman duly crossed for the visitors.

OA weren’t done and kept pushing, and further tries came including a well-deserved bonus point try on 78 minutes and Elliot’s hat-trick score.