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Dunstablians 24 (Tries: White, Myburg, Hvass. Cons: Loxton 3. Pen: Loxton)
Leicester Lions 24 (Tries: Wesley 2, Nock, Barendse. Cons: Barendse 2. )
Leicester Lions lose their 100% record the week after they secure the Powergen Midlands One Championship with the home side snatching a draw with the last move of the game with a converted try in a match between the top two in the table.
The Lions were on the scoreboard first and went into a 12-0 lead before the home side got off the mark with a penalty goal from Morne Loxton which was the way it stayed till late in the half. The Lions got a third try just before the half time whistle and at 17-3 it looked like another win was on its way.
The home side fought back and two converted tries saw them draw level. The Lions though responded with a try and went 24-17 ahead. The drama happened right at the end with centre Marcus Hvass going in at the corner and Loxton slotting over the conversion for the draw but it was not enough to stop them dropping down to third place in the table with Kettering beating Bromsgrove.
Kettering 40 (Tries: Bartley 2, Cheetham, Coles 2, Baird. Cons: Whales 5)
Bromsgrove 15 (Pens: Birch 5.)
Kettering’s play off aspirations are back on track after this comprehensive victory over Bromsgrove and with Dunstablians drawing their game against champions Leicester Lions the club moves back into second place in the table if only on points difference. This victory was built around the work of the forwards who took control of the game early on, which enabled the back line to be at its impressive best, and this was despite a referee who seemed determined not to allow the game to flow.
Bromsgrove started the game on a great playing surface the brightest and two early penalties put them in front, as Kettering looked a bit rusty, but they soon were looking to get the ball wide and after 12 minutes worked the ball to Gareth Bartley who powered over in the corner to put the ‘Blues’ on the board. Bromsgrove’s only tactic seemed to be to wait for penalties and have a kick at goal and this they did after 16 minutes to increase their lead, immediately though Kettering responded to take the lead themselves as after a huge drive by the forwards Martin Cheetham was driven over for the try which Damien Whales converted.
Kettering were now well on top and although the pitch was beginning to cut up they were still looking to attack from the wings, and Tom Coles seeing a lot of the ball scored a blistering try as he was set free by the backs and easily outpaced the visitors defence for the try, Whales adding the extra points with the conversion. Although Bromsgrove pulled back three points with another penalty, Kettering again hit straight back with Paul Baird crashing through a couple of would be tacklers before powering his way to the line to give Whales an easy conversion.
Half Time: Kettering 26 Bromsgrove 12
Michael Griffiths replaced Martin Cheetham at the start of the second half and with the rain falling heavily the pitch was now becoming very heavy, the referee was continually penalising Kettering at the breakdown and this allowed Bromsgrove to claw back another three points with another penalty. The ‘Blues’ though were still looking to run the ball despite the conditions and it wasn’t long before Paul Baird opened up the Bromsgrove defence with some breathtaking running before putting Bartley in for his second try, Whales again converting with an excellent long range effort.
The game then really got bogged down as it became difficult to hold on to the ball or stay on your feet in the difficult conditions, and with the referee not helping the whole game seemed to go off the boil.
Kettering used their bench bringing Paul Gibson into the fray and his straight down the middle of the field game started to open up holes and Tom Coles exploited this as once again his pace was much to hot for Bromsgrove to handle, Whales again converting to make the two points safe. The hosts then wound down the clock for the rest of the game conserving themselves for the battles that are still to come, starting with the East Midlands Cup quarterfinal match against Huntingdon next Saturday at Waverley Road.
Longton P (.)
Walsall P (.)
Luctonians 36 (Tries: Owen 2, Heather, Garrod, Looms. Cons: James 2, Wheadon 2. Pen: Wheadon.)
Broadstreet 5 (Try: Simkiss.)
Luctonians home winners of struggling Broadstreet 36-5 running in five tries. Centre Effron Heather got them on their way early in the game with his 10th try of the season and Chris James converted for 7-0. Full back James Owen got the second try and with James again converting it was 14-0 before the visitors got their only score of the afternoon with No 8 Eddie Simkiss touching down for an unconverted try early in the second half.
The home side ran in three tries in the second half to record a comfortable win and Owens went over for a second try to seal the win late on.
Mansfield 7 (Try: Smedley. Con: Rutter.)
Scunthorpe 12 (Pens: Robinson 4.)
Tim Robinson slotted over three first half penalty goals to put the visitors 9-0 ahead at the break. .
In the second half it took till the 70th minute for the score to change with Robinson kicking his fourth penalty goal for 12-0.
The home side did finally get on the scoreboard with the games only try with scrum half Smedley touching down and Brad Rutter converting.
Whitchurch 15 (Tries: Appleby, . Con: Canney. Pen: Canney.)
Derby 5 (Try: Mursal.)
Report courtesy of Derby:
In this critical match Derby kicked off playing into a strong wind, needing to make a better start than they have so often this season. Within minutes they were under pressure as a series of poor kicks resulted in Whitchurch moving to within 5 metres of the Derby line. The first scrum hinted at things to come as Whitchurch shunted Derby back. Derby were able to clear their lines, settle down and eventually move up field with some controlled driving mauls.
After 10 minutes Derby were penalised for pulling down a maul and the Whitchurch 10 scored from the penalty. In the next 10 minutes Derby seemed to forget the success they had had with driving mauls and started kick with dangerous consequences in the wind. Never able to make ground with this tactic, Whitchurch forced a number of line outs close to the Derby line and eventually showed Derby that they too can drive a maul with a well worked try after winning a line out 12 metres out and driving over the line. Derby players appealed for an infringement, but to no avail and the Whitchurch 10 converted to make the score 10 - 0. In the process Derby centre Tagicakibau had to leave the pitch with a suspected fractured cheekbone, to be replaced by Rod Muir.
The pattern of the game continued with both sides effective with close driving, but Derby’s efforts were being thwarted by giving away too many penalties. After 25 minutes Derby started to come into their own. A clever box kick from Royer was followed up by Spencer and the play continued through several phases close to the Whitchurch line, but their defence was resolute. Derby continued to pressurise and Whitchurch gave away a penalty from a deliberate knock-on. Derby kicked to the corner, but the line out, crucially, was lost. Still Derby stayed in the Whitchurch 22 with drives from Dove and Roberts making further ground, but Derby were unable to turn the pressure into points. Eventually Whitchurch cleared and quickly got to a line out close to the Derby line. Another drive ensued, fortunately followed by a knock-on and Derby went into the interval 10 - 0 down but with plenty to play for given the conditions.
Looking to spend long periods in the Whitchurch territory, Derby were dismayed to find the wind dropping and, worse still, a innocuous looking Whitchurch attack within 2 minutes, suddenly made huge inroads into Derby territory, the ball went wide and the ubiquitous Whitchurch open side was on hand to take a pass and score. Derby raised their heads to push back up field and 9 minutes into the half Dove and Mursal found themselves out wide and Mursal brushed past the winger's attempted tackle to score. The conversion was missed to leave the score 15 - 5.
Whitchurch seemed to gather themselves at this stage and played with great tenacity to continue to disrupt Derby’s normally sound scrummage and seemed to win all the 50-50 situations. Despite a wind advantage, Derby were rarely able to gain territory and too frequently missed touch or had kicks half charged down. Their cause was not helped by Harry Roberts being sent to the sin bin 22 minutes into the half. As Whitchurch started to sense that they just needed to rattle Derby, too many handling errors were being made and when Derby did kick, the Whitchurch full back fielded the ball well and was not shut down quickly enough. When it mattered Whitchurch seemed able to put in a big scrummage and Derby found they had no consistent platform to work from.
The final whistle went with Whitchurch players understandably delighted and Derby players knowing that some big results will be required from the last 4 league matches to avoid relegation. |
