Northampton Casuals 40 Biggleswade 0
Midlands 3 East (South)
As expected Biggleswade lost to league leaders Northampton Casuals by forty points (0-40) but it was largely an entertaining game in which Biggleswade did little wrong.
Biggleswade travelled with a full squad but knew that after losing by nearly thirty points at home back in November it would be a tough encounter. On a breezy afternoon there was some confusion about kick off time but once into March games start at 3pm.
Biggleswade had to play into the wind in the first half and quickly realised that it needed a big boot to gain any perceptible ground.
Casuals looked threatening each time that they had ball in hand but Biggleswade snuffed all the early challenges. It was not until the twenty fifth minute that Casuals scored their first of six tries. All but one was converted which shows the value of a kicker who can land anything despite the tricky cross-wind conditions.
Two tries down at the break but now with wind advantage Biggleswade hoped for better things. But Casuals soon quashed hopes of a comeback from the Biggy Boys with another two tries.
They added two more in the closing minutes as the Biggleswade defence lacking the tackling power of Michael Haddow was split apart.
The closest that Biggleswade got to scoring a try was a big breakout from the edge of their twenty-two. The ball was hacked downfield and bounced under the posts. The referee awarded a drop out to the home side but a TMO might have given Biggleswade a try for the first downward pressure on the ball.
Scrums were solid apart from when Casuals dragged it round. Coach Will with a prop’s eye spotted several possible penalty infringements but these are rarely given at the level at which Biggleswade play.
The man-of-the-match panel on the side-lines considered a number of options. As always Jack Diemer set his fan club alight with some stirring runs.
The aging Ian “Robbo” Robinson was judged to have brought some class to proceedings a reminder of his prowess in earlier days.
The rarely available Will Roake who started at full-back was calm under the high ball and had some dashing runs.
But Gavin Taylor got the panel’s accolade for his whole hearted tackling both on the wing and then in the centre despite a popped shoulder injury. A dash of ice and some TLC from the physio saw him quickly back in the fray.
Team v Northampton Casuals Dave Tysom, Sacha Heath, Aaron Pickering, (Will Wheeler), Jack Diemer, Jake Deveraux, Luke Deveraux, Ian Robinson, Sam Watson, Luke Gadsby, Elliot Tunstall, Tom Anderson, Tom Flather, Tom Seabrook (Oliver Latimer),, Gavin Taylor, Will Roake, (Steve Bishop.
This Saturday Biggleswade has a must win match against Queens if they are to have any chance of staying in the division. The away tie was disrupted by an injury with Queens getting the decisive winning score in the final seconds. If they can put out a decent side Biggleswade should back themselves to win. The match kicks off at 3pm.
