Leighton Buzzard welcomed Stamford College Old Boys (SCOB) to Wrights Meadow for the first time in their latest Midland County 3 East (South) league game. Whilst the margin of victory was substantial this was not one of Buzzards’ finest performances with numerous handling errors and periods where their focus was less than razor-sharp.
The visitors kicked off downhill in dry and still conditions. Whilst Leighton had most of the early possession and territory they were frustrated by frequent knock-ons and poor decision-making. In fact, it was SCOB that opened the scoring with a 13th minute penalty to take a three-point lead. Despite the forceful runs of Matt Bloxham, it took time for Buzzards to find their normal rhythm. Finally, midway through the half and following a break by Ollie Taylor, Iestyn Hopkin scored Buzzards’ first try. Straight from the restart the ball was transferred through many hands for speedster George Rabbit to score. With Ollie Taylor converting both, Buzzards were 14-3 ahead. Five minutes later Jamie West won a race to touch down following a clever kick ahead, extending the lead by five points.
Buzzards secured their try bonus point with five minutes of the half left, following a solo charge from prop forward, Haydon Jones, from ten metres. As earlier in half, Leighton scored straight from the kick-off with a fine move resulting in a try for Wills Messum. With Ollie Taylor converting both of these tries, Buzzards led 33-3 at half time.
Three minutes into the second half Ollie Taylor scored a fine individual try from halfway. Space was now appearing in wide areas, allowing George Rabbit to show how fleet of foot he is, leaving defenders clutching at air as he scored his second try. Once again Taylor, who had a fine match both ball in hand and kicking off the tee, converted both, extending the lead to 47-3.
Despite these early tries, Buzzards were struggling to add continuity to their play – not helped by a high penalty count but also credit to spirited effort from SCOB. Midway through the half and, in a rare visit to Leighton’s twenty-two, the visitors’ spirits were raised further by a try of their own, which, with the successful conversion, made the score 47-10.
SCOB had been handicapped by injuries and with twenty minutes to go were down to fourteen men. With a splendid show of sportsmanship and also not to demoralise a beaten side, Buzzards coach, Phil Llewellyn agreed to match numbers by removing Ollie Taylor, leaving the game 14 versus 14.
With ten minutes to go Jacob Dove, who had a very quiet game out of position on the wing, scored from a Ross Bevan break. The restart kickoff was caught by Wills Messum just inside the twenty-two area – he ran seventy metres evading tacklers and without requiring assistance from his team mates to score an incredible individual try. Shortly after, Julian Gallie added a final try. With Iestyn Hopkin converting one of the final three tries and SCOB adding a late penalty the final score was 64-13.
Wills Messum was Man of the Match, not just for his try-scoring exploits but also for his commanding presence in the lineout and high tackle count.
Next week is a blank league weekend before Leighton travel to Northampton Mens Own in a fortnight.