1st TEAM Match Report
SATURDAY 14th February 2004
LEAGUE: MIDLANDS 3 EAST (South)
OLD NORTHAMPTONIANS 1st XV: 30 LUTTERWORTH 1st XV: 28
‘You don’t realise how much the pitch slopes until you have to run back up it’ proved the deciding factor in an enthralling and exciting contest between these two evenly matched sides.
The visitors played with the slope during the first half and the Lutterworth forwards were unstoppable. Despite an early successful penalty attempt by O.N’s, Lutterworth took the lead after 15 minutes by way of a lineout catch and drive, taken over by back row, Adam Conway. O.N’s replied with an unconverted try but for the remainder of the half the home side forwards could only stop the Lutterworth pack illegally. Penalised many times for pulling down the rolling maul and yellow carded twice, O.N’s were punished by Tim Jeffs clinical kicking. Jeff’s three successful penalty attempts were followed in the final minute by a breakaway try from flying winger, Phil Daffern, giving the away side a 23 to 11 lead.
The Northampton side’s record this season speaks for itself and they were not going to roll over. Now playing with the slope O.N’s drew level with two tries and a conversion and the game was on a knife edge. Lutterworth fans thought the game decided when with only minutes of normal play left, Captain, Dennis Hall took the ball over from the back of a five yard scrum. However during the high tension of several minutes of stoppage time O.N’s came back again and pinched the game with a try and successful conversion.
Coach Dave Turner was philosophical; ‘Were you a neutral spectator, this was a superb game of rugby, our lads gave everything and were desperately unlucky not to have come away with the two points, a draw would have been a fair result’