Peterborough 24 (Tries: Marcisauskas, Uys, Kells. Cons: Kleynhans 3. Pens: Kleynhans)
Longton 0

Cheers quickly turned to tears as Peterborough made a dignified exit from Midlands Division One at Fortress Fengate on Saturday despite winning 24-0 against potteries-based Longton, writes Phil Elmer.

To survive at the top level the city outfit needed to win their final game and then hope that results worked in their favour elsewhere.

They did the hard part against the visitors from Stoke, who were lying in third place in the table, and they achieved the vital victory in some style.

But then a remarkable set of results drifted in and the smiles rapidly disappeared.

To stay up Borough needed any one of four teams to lose - Bedford Athletic, Scunthorpe, Luctonians or South Leicester.

South Leicester, as expected, thumped bottom club Market Bosworth 39-10 but Luctonians somehow managed to overcome champions Luton 27-8 and, even more incredibly, Bedford Athletic and Scunthorpe engineered a remarkable 16-16 draw!

It was unbelievably bad luck on the Borough boys, who had achieved some superb results in their first season at the lofty level of Midlands Division One, including a double over third-placed Dunstablians and pre-season favourites Bedford Athletic, and a marvellous win at Fengate over runners-up Dudley Kingswinford.

Ten wins and a draw would normally have been enough to end the season in a mid-table position and escape the drop.

But this division has been exceptionally tight this season and at the end of a tough campaign there were only two points difference covering eight teams and that separated Borough from third-placed Dunstablians!

Disappointed Borough manager Paul Freeman said: “This division is so tough. Anybody can beat anybody. The slightest sign of complacency is punished and we have to look at the home games against Walsall and Market Bosworth, who are relegated with us, and question how we lost those.

"We’ve learned so much and I believe we have shown overall that we are a worthy Midlands Division One club both on and off the park. So we need to get back as soon as possible and I’m sure we can do that.”

He added: “After five years I thought it was time to pass the job on to someone else. But how can I quit now. I’m not a quitter. I don’t walk away from anything. I shall continue if the club want me to.”

Mathematically there is still a slim chance that Borough could survive. Saturday’s match between Dunstablians and Broadstreet was postponed.

If Dunstablians win that by 50 points then Borough would move up a place and Broadstreet would be doomed.

But, after Saturday’s disappointing set of results, nobody in the Borough camp is holding out much hope.

Skipper Paul Cook said: “Unfortunately the other results went against us and we are almost certainly relegated. Everyone within the club is resigned to the fact and we are absolutely gutted. Saturday’s results were so unfair. And to only lose half of your games and go down is cruel. It’s been a cruel league."

"But now we have to look on the positive side and start getting things into place for next season and a speedy return to Midlands Division One.”

The game itself saw Peterborough produce a sizzling second-half performance after an evenly contested first half.

After turning round 3-0 ahead through a Louis Kleynhans penalty after 26 minutes, Borough camped in the Longton half for almost the entire second period.

And possession was rewarded with points. First centre Gedis Marcisauskas stormed in on 51 minutes after some great work by skipper Paul Cook, Vauxhall Marshalls man-of-the-match Mark Hodges and super sub James Hannam.

Kleynhans, who once again had a fine match at the back, slotted that conversion and then added the points to a try by player/coach Darian Uys 7 minutes later, who peeled off a scrum five metres out to touch down.

That made it 17-0 and then with about 10 minutes to go came the best try of the match as East Midlands winger Chris Kells gathered the ball inside his own half and went on a mazy run from the left wing that had the Longton defence tackling shadows. He beat five players with lightning pace and dazzling footwork to touch down near the posts enabling Kleynhans to convert and complete the job . . . or at least half of it!

For Borough the whole team played well but forwards Peter Brudnell, Hodges, Uys, Cook and young Hannam repeatedly caught the eye with their incisive drives, and Pete Kolakowski once again shone at the lineouts.

Bedford Athletic 16 (Tries: Harris, Grant. Pens: Tapper 2.       

Scunthorpe 16 (Tries: L Jones, Viamoso. Pens: Robinson 2  

Both sides secured their survival in the premier league of Midland's rugby as a result of a fiercely contested fixture at Putnoe Woods.
Both sides went all-out for a victory which would have meant that the winners would definitely have been safe but at the expense of the probable demotion of the losers.

The ground was rock - hard and the bounce of the ball was consequently a lottery in the stifling heat. The Ath. were quicker into their stride and the Greens had one or two scares before a powerful driving maul by the home pack saw them score an unconverted try which was quickly added to by a successful penalty kick. Things were starting to look ominous for the visitors, but the pack rallied and secured some ball, from which the Greens backs always looked dangerous. A loose clearance kick by the Ath. was collected by winger Jones who linked well with centre Anthony Carpenter who timed his pass to Rewiti Viamoso to perfection, sending the speedy Kiwi on a rampaging run before diving over in the corner to open the Greens account. The conversion was unsuccessful. Although Bedford replied with a successful penalty attempt, Lewis Jones revelling in top-of-the-ground conditions again secured a loose ball and outpaced the home defence to score a superb virtuoso try. Once again the conversion was unsuccessful, and left the Heslam Park outfit trailing by 10pts to 11pts at the break.

The second half saw a Herculean effort from the home pack to match up to their visiting opponents. Desperate defence and last-ditch tackling became the order of the day and the Greens were not found wanting when the exchanges were at their fiercest. Reduced to 14 men when Andy Fish was sinned binned for what most thought was a legal tackle at the lineout brought about a real team spirited display of defensive work which kept the Ath at bay. Eventually when returning to 15 men a penalty from skipper Tim Robinson put Scunthorpe ahead for the first time. This was short lived however as the Greens fell behind by 3pts when a period of sustained home pressure resulted in Bedford scoring an unconverted try, bringing the score to 16-13. With time running out the visiting pack redoubled their efforts forcing the Ath to cling on. The pressure eventually told, and Scunthorpe were awarded a crucial penalty. Robinson held his nerve to slot over one of the most important kicks of his illustrious Rugby - playing career to date, bringing the score to 16-16 with very little time to go. The Greens were then always on the attack in the Ath half, and only desperate defence kept the Greens from going ahead. As it was a draw came at the final whistle with both sides out on their feet in the exhausting heat, and both their to live another season in Midlands 1 for 2007/2008. 

Luctonians 28 (Tries: Ruthven, Garrod, Hulland 2. Cons: Prior 2. Pen: Prior.         

Luton 7 (Try: Smith. Pen: Anker.   

Luctonians survive for another season of Midlands One rugby after defeating Champions Luton at Mortimer Park.

Report courtesy of Luton:

The match at Luctonians wasn’t the best way to finish the season and it was equally disappointing for the party of supporters who made a weekend of the trip to Leominster. Having secured the league title last week it was inevitable they were under less pressure to perform at the top of their game than Luctonians. Only a win could guarantee Luctonians avoiding relegation and it is to their credit that they played a very controlled game when under the greatest pressure. An additional complication was Luton having to play one or two makeshift combinations in their team due to injuries.

Luton achieved their share of set piece passions, with James Pearce fighting manfully as the sole line out jumper for Luton. But their support play lacked its usual dynamism and the team as a whole found it difficult to put together multi phased attacks. The tackling, which has been the most consistent aspect of their game throughout the season, was indecisive and it gave Luctonians the confidence to play a more expansive game than is their usual style. Missed tackles in mid-field led to their first and second tries, the first after 10 minutes and the second after 25 minutes. Luton were also guilty of many handling errors which prevented them building any continuous pressure and provided an easy outlet for Luctonians to exert their own pressure.

Luton were never in contention throughout the match and were losing 22-0 at half time. As the score suggests, they did not produce many attacking positions and had to defend for most of the half. Luctonians scored two tries through missed tackles and a final try on half time when their forwards barged over from close range. When Luton did attempt to open up the game, their handling and recycling skills were sloppy and quickly passed the initiative back to Luctonians.

The second half was a much better performance from Luton. At one time they was an outside chance that they would engineer a dramatic comeback. For the first 20 minutes they put together several promising attacks. Phil Lane’s powerful running and a typically spikey performance from hooker Joe Ross, set up attacking positions. An early penalty from Shaun Crowley put Luton on the score board and Matt Smith ran in 60 metre try after a counterattack. But Luton could not sustain their improvement and Luctonians played a more conservative game to pin Luton back into their own half. With a recovery looking less likely as time ran out, a Luton clearance kick was changed down for Luctonians to run out comfortable winners. 

Dudley Kingswinford 45 (Tries: Shankland, Francis 2, Smith, Griffiths, McEwan, Langford. Cons: McLellan 5.         

Walsall 13 (Try: Mould. Con: Wood. Pens: Wood 2.    

DK took the lead in the first minute after turning over Walsall possession in midfield and moving it quickly to the left wing where Jon Shankland did extremely well to shrug off a couple of tackles to score an fine unconverted try in the corner for 5-0.  Walsall’s excellent fly half Matt Wood put Walsall in front 5-6 with penalties on 10 and 13 minutes as the DK cover desperately infringed to stop the visitor’s impressive back line. Walsall lost flanker Steve Halbert to a yellow card for punching after 17 minutes and DK took full advantage with a couple of converted tries on 20 and 22 mins. They drove Walsall back towards their own line from a penalty then good hands from Gareth Davies and Eddie Smith sent in Nigel Francis under the posts. Two minutes later a break through the middle from big Ollie Shakespeare carried on by Andy McEwen saw him send in Eddie Smith for a fine try. Andy McLellan (2) converted both tries for DK to lead 19-6 after 24 minutes.

Walsall hit back immediately; quick ball and even quicker hands saw centre John Critchley break wide with the DK cover in his wake to send in full back Chris Mould. Matt Wood converted for 19-13. With both sides trying to play fast open rugby in the perfect conditions, Walsall looked the more fluent with the ball in hand but then DK had a lot more of the ball.  The visitors in fact missed a couple of glorious opportunities to score but over-complication saw good build ups squandered, a fact that the visitors would rue come the second half.

                       Half Time:   DUDLEY KINGSWINFORD  19   WALSALL  13

A late tackle on DK left wing Jon Shankland led to a penalty catch and drive deep in the Walsall 22 and Shaun Griffiths was driven over easily from a powerful rolling maul, Andy McLellan converted and DK were 26-13 ahead on 42 minutes. Walsall knocked on with the line beckoning after 48 minutes and DK punished them with their fifth try after 57 minutes. Camped on the Walsall line Ian Langford was held up just short but the ball was re-cycled for the impressive Andy McEwen to crash over for an unconverted try to make it 31-13. Walsall lost Steve Halbert to a red card for stamping on 71 minutes whilst DK’s Shaun Griffiths got a yellow for retaliating.

With Walsall over-committing men forward, Gareth Davies broke the line on 74 minutes, Ian Langford was on his shoulder to take the scoring pass, Andy McLellan converted and DK were out of sight at 38-13 up after 74 minutes. Walsall kept plugging away and only a thunderous tackle right on the line from Andy McLellan, saved a certain try after 77 minutes. Deep into stoppage time another blockbusting tackle from Andy McLellan saw DK kick ahead, Walsall fumbled the ball and Nigel Francis was on it like a flash to cruise in for his second try of the afternoon, Andy McLellan again converted for a final score of 45-13 to DK.

Market Bosworth 10        

South Leicester 39 (Tries: Hemsley 2, Lord 2, Ife. Cons: Lord 4. Pens: Lord 2.    

Report courtesy of South Leicester.

After the disappointment of the defeat in the County Cup final on Tuesday, South bounced back in style with an emphatic 39 points to 10 demolition of Market Bosworth to guarantee Midlands 1 security. Veteran lock Paul Hayes returned to the side and controlled the ball for much of the game allowing the backs to turn on the style when it mattered. John Hemsley and Mark Lord score two tries each with Richard Ife adding one and Mark Lord kicking 14 points to add to his two tries. The club would like to thank everyone who rallied to the flag and went over to Bosworth to support the team, it was a fantastic turn out.

Broadstreet P       

Dunstablians P