MEN'S RUGBY: Scouts hold their nerve to see off Peterborough

The victory was built on a strong defensive showing from the home side, who scored first after fine work from George Barrett.

Barrett ran almost the full length of the pitch before Liam Hancock picked up to score.

Adam Frost converted before Boro responded with a penalty.

But Scouts were making the most headway and increased their lead when Richard Bussey flew forward and put Iain Simmons in. Frost converted from close to the sticks.

The second half was played in a similar fashion with the home side mostly on top and a Frost penalty added to the score.

As the match wore on, the wet muddy conditions were beginning to tell and several mistakes were being made.

A large haul of penalties and yellow cards nearly became a critical factor in Scouts’ quest for their first victory in 2018.

At one point they were down to 13 men and pressure from Boro led to a try which went unconverted.

But numbers were soon evened up and after both teams had returned to a full complement Boro grabbed a second try which also went unconverted.

With hardly any time left on the clock, Scouts kicked deep and held Boro in their own half before celebrating a well deserved win.

Casuals 10 St Ives 10

SECOND-PLACED Casuals knew they were in for a tough afternoon as they hosted unbeaten league leaders St Ives.

The visitors started well and took the lead through a penalty.

The Casuals then started to assert themselves and dominated the remainder of the half.

Jannie Van Der Veter’s 25th minute try was converted by Jonny Schoeman, giving the home side a deserved 7-3 half-time lead.

The Casuals continued to outplay their higher placed opponents and Schoeman extended the lead with a penalty.

But it was not to be enough as the visitors’ first spell 
of sustained pressure saw them crash over for an injury-time try, with the resultant conversion bringing the scores level.

Old Northamptonians 8 Paviors 5

OLD NORTHAMPTONIANS upset the odds as they edged out third-placed Paviors in Midlands 1 (East).

The ONs got off to the best possible start when Calum Brennan collected the Paviors’ kick-off and charged forward,forcing an early penalty, which Al Rose slotted.

A rare breakout from the visitors saw the ball moved wide, but Harry Sanderson put in a fine covering tackle as the score remained 3-0 at the break.

Paviors opened the second half brightly and hooker Kieran Wells bundled his way over, with George Billam missing the conversion attempt from wide out.

Ten minutes later the ONs retook the lead as Calum Brennan latched on to a pass and was unstoppable from five metres out.

Rose missed the simple conversion, but ONs battled on and eventually secured a hard-fought success.

Meanwhile, the adventurous Old Northamptonians IIs romped to victory away from home.

A combination of fearless creativity and solid defensive work saw the second XV put in their best performance of the season to defeat Nuneaton Old Edwardians 55-5.

Solid work at the breakdown, complemented by a number of surging runs from flanker Tom Winfield, excellent footwork from winger Adrien Chaima and quick thinking around the fringes from scrum-half Wayne Clarke saw the ONs go in at half-time with a commanding lead.

Old Eds fought back valiantly in the second half, but resolute defence led by man of the match Chris Reid, in only his second appearance for the club, kept the home team out until the last play of the game.

The ONs’ positivity and willingness to take risks paid dividends, and that was epitomised by a sublime out-the-back pass from hooker Liam Price to set up full-back Gary Morton for a try.

Hertford 54 Towcestrians 3

IT was to be another disappointing day for Towcestrians in the London & SE Premier as they were comfortably beaten by fourth-placed Hertford.

Alliance finals dates

The Northamptonshire & District Rugby Alliance are delighted to announce the dates for the finals of our four KO competitions that will all be played at Franklin’s Gardens.

This includes the newest competition, the Northampton Alliance Women’s Trophy.

The Oceanic Trophy and Lewis Shield will both be played on Wednesday, April 11, with the Alliance Ladies Trophy and the Alliance Cup both on Wednesday, April 25.