Biggleswade Men’s 1st XV 14-3 Northampton BBOB 1st XV
The spring sunshine on Saturday meant conditions were ideal for Biggleswade to play some expansive rugby in their home match against BBOBs.
The visitors arrived aiming to spoil Biggy’s unbeaten league record, initially pinning them in their own half. BBOB’s big pack of forwards capitalised on a knock-on made by Biggy in the centre of field and drove deep into the home team’s 22, but Biggleswade’s defence was strong and there was no way through.
Creative play from the visitors’ 9 and 10, with short kicks over the top, could have proved dangerous but Biggy kept their composure and put in huge tackles to keep BBOBs out. When a breakaway BOBB player ran the length of the field looking likely to score he was pulled down by the Biggy back three working as one.
The visitors’ persistence paid off after 25 minutes as they opened the scoring through a penalty kick just inside Biggy’s 22.
Biggleswade’s heads did not drop. A strong blitz defence after the restart forced BBOBs to knock the ball on a number of times and a penalty was awarded, the attempt just nudged wide. The resulting 22 drop out was kicked deep but was collected by Alex Borg who used his strength and footwork to step past four tackles before presenting the ball back to the waiting forwards in the visitors’ half.
It was time for some real Biggy pressure, as they launched numerous attacks. A line out won just inside the ten metre line gave the platform for the forwards to edge closer to the try line. The final blow came from Captain Dom Nott as he crashed over the line just right of the posts (his try converted by Elliot Tunstall). Half time score: 7-3.
Biggy started the second period on the front foot, again putting the visitors under pressure and forcing mistakes and infringements which they used to their advantage, kicking for the corner. Jon Richardson played exceptionally well on the wing on his first team debut, with some strong running lines and impressive tackling.
The BBOBs defence was solid and they managed to hold out the Biggy attack until Jake Devereux crashed over the try line tight between the posts, again converted by Tunstall, making the score line 14-3 with 25 minutes to play.
The remainder of the half was evenly matched as both teams attacked hard but were held by impressive defences. Man of the Match Sam Watson came closest to scoring but again was held just short. The final score may well reflect the final league positions with Biggy staying top, closely followed by BBOBs in second place.
Pics: Kirchin Photography
