Leighton Buzzard 7 Market Harborough 11
Leighton Buzzard are still looking for that elusive first win the new league after falling short against a strong Market Harborough side.
The visitors started of strong playing down the hill, they soon had the Buzzards line under pressure. A series of scrums were strongly contested by the home side but a well worked move off the back of a scrum in the Leighton 22m area put the visiting winger in at the corner after just five minutes. The conversion was missed. Thelarge home support feared that the floodgates would open but the young Leighton side did not give in so easily.
Strong defence by the home team kept the visitor’s from adding to early points as Buzzards fought their way back into the game. Most of the first half was played between the twenty-two areas with neither team able to break the strong defences. A number of injuries meant that the first half was extended by five minutes when winger Wiggins got the ball out on the left wing, barging his way past the visiting fullback he scored under the posts. The conversion by Tom Winch made the score 7-5.
The visitors were not finished and drove deep into the Buzzards half but were held up over the line on the stroke of half time. Buzzards going into the break seven points to five ahead.
The second half was more of the same. Neither team able to break through the defences. Harborough were awarded a penalty in the middle of the pitch after ten minutes of the half and kicked for goal, the successful kick meant that the visitors were back in the lead but only by one point. Seven points to eight.
Both teams were now fairly solid in defence but making errors in the attacks with passes not going to hand and the ball being knocked on. Leighton were coming back strong with only five minutes left on the clock when they gave away a series of penalties which took them from the Harborough half to their own try line. From a lineout the ball was passed down through the backs to the visiting centre who was tackled to the ground in front of the Leighton posts. Jack Whitehouse, despite legally getting his hands on the ball eventually fell to the ground and was penalised for not rolling away. Harborough stepped up and kicked the penalty with the last kick of the game to make it 7-11.
Buzzards can look at this game and say it’s one that got away but know that they need to be more clinical in their finishing to score the points that can win games.
Next week Buzzards travel to the re-arranged first game of the season against fellow strugglers Peterborough Lions.