LUTON 5 – 39 LEIGHTON BUZZARD
Leighton Buzzard made a significant step towards winning Counties 3 Midlands East (South) with a hard-fought victory away at local rivals Luton. The bonus-point win means they need just one win from their three remaining fixtures to win the league and secure promotion.
Buzzards kicked off in dry and warm conditions. They thought they had made the perfect start as Jamie West touched down after one minute, only for the referee to call a forward pass. Ten minutes later Buzzards did take the lead – some excellent handling allowing Jack Cullen to touch down in the corner. Four minutes later, fly-half Cullen created the second try with an excellent break and well-timed pass for George Rabbitt to score in the corner. With James Brett hitting the post with the first touchline conversion and converting the second, Leighton had established a 12-0 lead.
Midway through the half, Tom Maynard thought he had scored but, once again, the referee brought play back, this time for an illegal tackle. Shortly afterwards Leighton should have extended their lead, but the misplaced final pass went into touch.
Despite Leighton’s early scores, Luton, who had started the day in third place, remained competitive. Both Buzzards’ lineout and scrum were functioning well, although scrum possession was reduced by three first half free-kicks, apparently awarded for perceived engagement misdemeanors. Finally, after thirty-eight minutes, Luton entered the Buzzard twenty-two for the first time, but this rare attack petered out, to leave Leighton 12-0 ahead at half-time.
Luton started the second half well with a spell of pressure, assisted in part by a couple of Leighton handling errors. Strong running in the home side backs led to a try in the corner with only four minutes of the half played. The difficult conversion was missed leaving Buzzards 12-5 ahead. This set-back spurred Buzzards to regain their focus and it took only three minutes to score their third try. Good handling through numerous phases with Wills Messum prominent, created the opening for Jacob Dove to touch down under the posts. James Brett converted, and midway though the half added a long-range penalty to extend the lead to 22-5.
The game was becoming more fractious as the high penalty count and the referee’s lengthy explanations were giving the game a disjointed feel. Two yellow cards, one to each team, were given in quick succession, both for dissent, as players’ frustrations unwisely became evident.
As in previous matches, Buzzards’ fitness and strength of the replacements bench grew in importance in the last fifteen minutes, with three tries in a ten minute spell. Firstly, a fine break by Man-of -the-Match Wills Messum created the opportunity for winger Kian Kelly to score in the corner, following a clever cross-field kick. Six minutes later Ollie Taylor ghosted through the defence to score under the posts – and Taylor then turned creator with a super break from his own half to pass to Kian Kelly to add his second and Buzzards sixth try. James Brett converted one of these late tries to put Leighton 39-5 ahead. Luton added a consolation try with the last play of the game to leave the final score 39-10.
Next week Buzzards welcome Rugby Welsh to Wrights Meadow knowing that a win would make them League winners.