PETERBOROUGH LIONS 6 – 40 LEIGHTON BUZZARD
Leighton Buzzard secured a bonus point victory away at Peterborough Lions but this was far from a straightforward victory. Trailing at half-time after a lacklustre performance, Leighton found their form to score six second half unanswered tries in a twenty-five minute period.
Buzzards kicked off in dry and sunny conditions. The early play was in Peterborough Lions territory, but with the exception of a James Brett effort , which ended with a knock-on, the home side’s line was rarely threatened.
It took ten minutes for the home side to finally make it to Buzzard territory helped by an increasing penalty count. It was from one of these penalties that the home side took a 3 point lead after fifteen minutes. Peterborough Lions were using their big forwards and centre as straight runners in attack, whilst Buzzards were trying to play a faster open game. However, with both sides defending well and Buzzards lacking their normal attacking spark there was little to excite the crowd. Frustration boiled over as the half ended with Ash Walsh receiving a yellow card for a high tackle.
The home side started the second half with increasing confidence and added a second penalty after four minutes to double their lead to 6 points. This seemed to spur Buzzards on as they were almost immediately camped on the Lions line. However, the attack ended with a penalty conceded and Buzzards marched back twenty metres for dissent as frustration once again boiled over.
Finally, after eight minutes of the second-half, Buzzards crossed the line. Jacob Murtagh, who was becoming increasingly influential with his own performance but also in leading and motivating the pack, touched down. The difficult conversion drifted wide to leave Leighton trailing 6-5. Five minutes later, Buzzards scored again. An excellent kick by Jack Cullen put the home defence under pressure. A poor attempted clearence kick gave Buzzards the opportunity to attack- with the ball passing through many hands before Tom Maynard touched down. James Brett’s conversion put Leighton ahead 12-6.
The home side were now visibly tiring and Buzzards’ speed and fitness were put to good effect with two tries in quick succession. Both tries resulted from good hands and spreading the play wide with Jamie West scoring the first and Matt Bloxham touching down for the bonus point try. With James Brett converting both these tries, Buzzards led 26-6
Excellent kicking from Leighton’s half-backs, James Brett and Jack Cullen were pinning Peterborough Lions back – it was an excellent “50- 22” kick from captain Brett that made the position and opportunity for Raef Braithwaite to score in the opposite corner. Shortly afterwards Jacob Davies added Buzzards sixth try – with both these late tries converted by James Brett, the final score was 40-6.
After a poor and frustrating half, Coach Phil Llewellyn’s half-time analysis helped Buzzards find a way to impose the style and secure a bonus point victory. After the game Phil awarded the man of the match to hooker Jack Adair and also congratulated Anthony Marris on his league debut.
With a week off from league action, Buzzards have a home cup match against Chess Valley next Saturday.