Luctonians 7 (Try: Handley. Con: Toms.). 

Walsall 13 (Tries: Marsh, Dickson. Pen: Wood.). 

Walsall’s penultimate game of the season saw them make the long trip to rural Herefordshire to play Luctonians. It was a game that they needed to win, if they were going to ease their relegation worries. It was pleasing to see the team produced one of its best performances of the season in securing a 13-7 victory.

The visitors played into a gale force wind in the first half and were rather unlucky to be losing 7- 0 at the interval. They had worked hard during the opening period, showing some very effective driving play. Indeed, they could well have scored a couple of tries if chances had not been spurned.

But with the wind at their back, they produced a very effective performance in the second half, and thoroughly deserved their victory.

No 8 Rod Dickson scored their first try, after another strong run off the base of the scrum. A few minutes later outside half Matt Wood put over a penalty to establish a slender lead. Wood had found it difficult to judge the strong wind, and was off target with five kicks. There was therefore great relief when the visitors secured another try, when good passing released skipper Richard Marsh, who scored wideout.

Once again, the final ten minutes saw Walsall having to continue to defend desperately. But they were well equipped for this aspect of the game, with players like Pierre Barneix, Richard Towe, Steve Halbert and Jimmy Scott to win.

Even the loss of second row Mark Gilbert for the last ten minutes did not seem to weaken the team. This victory now means that the team has to win their final league game to guarantee their league status for next season.

Bedford Athletic 41 (Tries: J Elphick 2, Wells, S Elphick, Ireland. Cons: Tapper 5. Pens: Tapper 2.). 

Dunstablians 15 (Tries: Bradshaw, Ellershaw. Con: Swart. Pen: Swart.). 

The Ath secured the points and a play off place as they put and end to Dee’s recent turn in form.

Wins from Walsall and Burton ensured that Dee’s will need to beat Bromsgrove in their final match to guarantee Midlands One rugby next term.

Ath used the strong wind well in the first half and opened up a 20 point lead in the opening 30 minutes.

Dee’s did not have the greatest start when an injury to Scott Oliver meant a change in the line up and matters got worse as fly half Tapper converted two penalties in the 3rd and 6th minute and added the conversion to left wing Elphick’s well taken try.

Ath’s pack continued to provided quick ball for Tapper who used his centres as a decoy and Wells took the inside pass at pace and scythed through the Dee’s defence. Tapper added the conversion and Ath opened up a 20-0 lead.

Dee’s brief periods of pressure gained their just rewards as centre James Ellershaw gave the away side a vital try against the elements to reduce the arrears to 20-5 but Ath showed their pedigree with a second try on the stroke of half time through full back James Elphick.

With the wind at their backs Dee’s opened up the second period with confidence and cut the deficit to 12 points with a try in the 41st minute from Dave Bradshaw. Gerhard Swart converted the extras and an interesting second half appeared in order.

Dee’s had prolonged periods of pressure and territory but would have been disappointed to only take a further three points from the boot of Swart in the 65th minute.

Still needing two converted tries to gain the lead Dee’s attacks became more desperate and Ath delivered a telling blow with ten minutes to play.

Ath scrum half Ireland battled through the Dee’s defence from 40 yards to touch down under the posts and again Tapper converted.

With a recovery out of Dee’s reach the home side pressurised again and James Elphick put the finishing touches to a simple but effective move in the remaining minute of the match. Tapper added the finishing touches to the afternoon with another conversion and Dee’s to look forward to their crucial last fixture of the season on the 22nd April at Bidwell Park.

Kettering 7 (Try: Coles. Con: Buoy.). 

Luton 27 (Tries: . Cons: Offer 3. Pens: Offer 2.). 

Kettering must now rely on others as well as needing to win their last game on the 22nd if they are to stay in Midlands 1 next season after this home defeat by old rivals Luton, and with their two relegation rivals somehow winning away games against all the odds.  The final day scenario is now quite simple, the ‘Blues’ must beat fellow relegation rivals at Burton and hope that Dudley Kingswinford do them a huge favour by winning at the other side involved in the relegation dogfight Walsall.

On Saturday Kettering, desperately needing a win couldn’t have had a better start against Luton as they took the lead within a minute of the kick off – Ryan James catching Andy Regan’s kick and quickly moving the ball – the backs spun it wide and Tom Coles was over for the try which Nicky Bouy converted to give the side a dream start.  Luton though were soon on level terms with a converted try and if that was not bad enough in the build up to the try Eddie Dee was injured and was helped from the field with a broken wrist, and just five minutes later Dave Watts was carried off with a dislocated knee – what a season for injuries!

Kettering continued to play well and created some decent chances as well as unfortunately missing some penalty kicks at goal and they were made to pay for these missed opportunities as Luton with four minutes of injury time played scored another converted try to go in to the break with the lead.

Half Time: Kettering  7   Luton  14

Although Kettering again started well in the second half Luton always looked confident whether they had the ball or were defending and they increased their lead with a try and after Martin Cheetham was sin binned they took advantage of their superior numbers to score another unconverted try.

Two penalties further increased the Luton lead before they scored another converted try right on the final whistle to condemn the ‘Blues’ to a nail biting final day of the season in two weeks time!

Dudley 22(Tries: Crane, Francis, Wilkinson. Cons: McLellan 2. Pen: McLellan.). 

Scunthorpe 7 (Try: Page. Con: Robinson.). 

Scunthorpe played two contrasting halves of rugby away at Dudley, the first half was secure and organised but they fell away in the second period, in a close match, the score certainly flattering DK.
The Greens did not get the best of starts when the coach took a wrong turning down the M5 and was consequently late arriving at the ground, however Scunthorpe started well and Luke Scargall was dominant in the line out and the forwards drove well. For the second week running Scunthorpe had to play into a fierce wind and the Green giants had defended with all their might, which they did for several periods of the game. On 8 minutes a sloppy turnover after another successful lineout allowed Dudley to counter-attack, the Greens were caught on the back foot and an overlap allowed wingman Nigel Francis to score wide, McLellan missed the conversion. Scunthorpe toiled away and from a solid scrum they were able to launch their runners, with Ben Fawcett playing well, out of position at No8. On 14 minutes DK put a high bomb kick, Scunthorpe dithered and the referee gave a scrum much to the chagrin of the Greens, the referee gave a penalty for back chatting and DK kicked deep into the Scunthorpe 22. .Dudley won the ball from the line out but Scunthorpe drove them back and foiled the try scoring opportunity. Unfortunately DK won another penalty, this time for a Green player offside at the ruck, if Scunthorpe were to win the game they were going to have play to the referee and cut out the penalties. Once again Dudley kicked deep for the line out, Luke Scargall leapt like a salmon and took the DK ball to stem the attack once more. Dudley were not going to give up and came back, a series of scrums on the 5 metre line saw them drive over but good defence from Steve Heath-Drury amongst others held up the Dudley players and prevented the score. Scunthorpe were quite confident in stemming the DK attack with their solid defence apart from a few basic errors and a inevitable lack of co-ordination at the base of the scrum due to the inexperience of novice No8 Fawcett Scunthorpe held out. Just before half-time they concede another penalty and McLellan slotted over the kick for the 3 points and DK were now 8-0 but Scunthorpe were going turn round and play with the wind at their backs and hopefully take the game to Dudley.
Unfortunately things did not go to plan as DK used their spoiling tactics and got the rub of the referee's decisions. On 52 minutes Scunthorpe built a good drive form Ben Fawcett up the centre of the field, the ball came back to short side with an overlap the ball was moved crisply but an unfortunate interception by Dudley winger Crane saw him race 70 metres to score the try, McLellan converted and 15 - 0 up and the stuffing had been knocked out of the Greens, some real character was called upon in order to get back in this game. To get back into the game Scunthorpe needed the solid platform of the scrum and then some astute kicking to get into DK territory, unfortunately neither of these was forthcoming and Scunthorpe could rally a response. They managed to get on the scoreboard when from a rare attack the prop Atkinson darted over, stepping inside his wingman leaving him floundering and scoring a good individual try, Tim Robinson converted and they were now back in the game. As you would expect Dudley came back at Scunthorpe but the defence responded well and once again prevented a score. A good break out of defence saw Tim Robinson and Rewiti Vaimoso inter link with deft passes, they moved into the DK 22 but it came to nought as the defence snuffed them out. The game was then put to rest as the influential flanker Knight scored a try off a DK scrum, the extra two points were added and it was clear that on this occasion Scunthorpe were not going break the duck of not winning away at Dudley. The game petered out as some odd decisions from the match official created some frustration in the Scunthorpe ranks; Mick Coult was yellow carded for descent.

Market Bosworth 17 (Try: M Saunders, Simpkin. Cons: Steele 2. Pen: Steele.). 

Burton 23 (Tries Philliskirk, Remy. Cons: Bartram 2., Pens: Bartram 3.). 

IN A game Burton knew they had to win, and despite the unavailability of their supposed match winners and the close look of the scoreline, the Crofters dominated Market Bosworth.

For 70 of the 80 minutes at Cadeby Lane, Burton controlled and dictated every aspect of the game as their greater will to win shone through.

  A howling wind blowing across the pitch did little to help playing conditions, but the visitors mastered these far better than their hosts, and in both halves used the conditions to help them play controlled rugby, taking chances whenever they arose.

  Bosworth began as expected, by trying to boss the Burton forwards around, but they had little success and after only seven minutes, frustration got the better of them as they were penalised for driving in from the side.

  Tom Bartram made no mistake with the kick from 30 metres to put Burton in front.

  With the Crofters' forwards now realising they were as good, if not better, than the opposition, they continually won rucks and mauls by turning over opposition ball.

  From one such encounter in the centre of the pitch, Ben Peach spun the ball out to Bartram on the left and he switched back to the right to find John Philliskirk in support and he raced over for a try in the corner.

  Once again Bartram converted with an excellent kick from the touchline to put Burton 10-0 up after as many minutes.

  With Burton now rampant, drives from Rob Emery, Tim Barker and Rob Scragg all gained valuable yards into Bosworth territory, and with Burton’s forwards quicker at the breakdowns than their hosts, it began to look a very one-sided game.

  Another Peach break saw him find Ian Gilmour, who sliced through the flat-footed home defence to feed makeshift winger Barbier Remy.

  Remy showed all the attributes of a winger as he rounded his man and then sprinted in to score under the posts for Bartram to add the extra points with his third successful kick.

  With 26 minutes gone, Bosworth frustration became even more evident when a penalty in the Burton 22 was reversed for stamping and the culprit sin-binned for his efforts.

  Bartram’s clearance took play to halfway and a further act of ill-discipline by the home side saw him increase the lead with a penalty.

  Burton were now well on top and the team were giving possibly the best first-half performance of the season as they controlled the game with constant probing and resolute defence.

  Some great runs by Henry Winsness from the base of the scrums, breaks around the edges by Peach and powerful bursts by Barker and Emery were just some of the highlights of this period.

  But the three-quarters were not to be outdone, with Gilmour, Bartram, Nick Porter and John Leason all causing problems to the home defence.

  On the stroke of half-time, a backs move saw Gilmour’s grubber kick hit the posts, and with a home player killing the ball to stop the try, Bartram duly slotted over his fifth kick of the day to take Burton into a 23-0 lead at the break.

  A fumbled take from the restart looked ominous for Burton as Bosworth surged forward knowing they needed to up their tempo, but the visitors' scrum held firm and the ball was cleared to the home 22.

  With the wind shifting slightly and now more behind Bosworth, they soon capitalised with a well-struck penalty to reduce Burton’s lead.

  The home side continued to pressurise, trying to put the ball deep over the Burton defence, but poor kicks on several occasions meant they lost hard-won ball as it went dead to give Burton a put-in back in opposition territory.

  With the Burton pack still out-muscling their opposite numbers, Winsness, Remy and Eddie Talbot were able to gain even further ground.

  One period of pressure from the hosts did lead to a try being awarded, despite claims that it was grounded on Gilmour’s chest, and Bosworth got within 13 points of Burton at 23-10 with 15 minutes to play.

  With legs now tiring, Burton replaced Winsness with Ben Ashfield and he immediately had an impact as he stole ball from the opposition to allow Bartram to clear the lines.

  Unfortunately, with nine minutes to go, Nick Thurman was yellow-carded for stopping the release of the ball, and so for the rest of the game, Burton were down to 14 men.

  But with Scragg taking opposition ball, Burton drove deep, and with some great pick-ups and drives by the forwards, they got to the home 22, but a missed drop-goal by Gilmour resulted in the home side racing up-field to score a converted try.

  So with five minutes left and the score at 23-17, was the result going to elude Burton again as it had done in the corresponding fixture on Peel Croft?

  Not at all. Burton were there for the win and no amount of pressure was going to deny them that, as for the last few minutes they all tackled and fought to stop anything Bosworth could throw at them.

.

Walsall 33 (Tries: Stockholm 2, Spencer, Hall, Summerfield. Cons: Summerfield 4.). 

Kettering 50(Tries: Davies 3, Nash, Viggers, Clements, Jackson, Stewart. Cons: Bond 5.). 

A shock looked on the cards at half time with Bromsgrove looking like they might have a chance of winning this match against Champions Rugby Lions, 26-14.