1st TEAM Match Report
Saturday 11th February 2006
LEAGUE: MIDLANDS 3 EAST (South)
LUTTERWORTH 1st XV: 20 V LEICESTER FOREST 1st XV: 24
After their dismal display and disappointing dumping from the County Bowl last Sunday by Vipers, Lutterworth looked to significantly raise their game for this important league fixture against second in the table, Forest. Raise their game indeed they did, thrilling the home crowd with passionate committed rugby and finally just failing to take the two points.
From the whistle the home side pack dominated forcing Forest into errors and infringements and after ten minutes Bobby Williams took Lutterworth into the lead from the first of his five out of six penalty attempts. Minutes later Williams was in the action again but this time it was a collision at full tilt with winger Adam Higgins that resulted in a sickening clash of heads laying the two players out and allowing Forest to snap up the ball and take it over for a lucky try that in the final analysis gave them the two points. Number eight Adam Conway, inspirational all afternoon at times taking his team mates forward on what seemed like pure adrenalin and will power, was unlucky to lose the ball forward going over the try line but Williams slotted two more penalties to Forest’s one to give Lutterworth a slender half time lead of nine to eight.
The second forty was more of the same, a war of attrition between two gritty and now evenly matched sides. Williams and the Forest standoff, Matthew Cinnett, twice swapped penalties but it was Cinnett who gained the lead after twenty minutes with a fine drop goal. It seemed that whoever scored the next try would take the day and so it was when Forest’s outside centre went over for a converted score that took them into a nine-point lead. Once again Williams featured with a defence busting run that set up winger Phil Daffern to go over in the corner, unfortunately Williams failed to convert leaving Lutterworth four points adrift with as many minutes left to play. A massive effort by the Lutterworth pack in these dying minutes was unrewarded just failing to score as the final whistle gave a relieved and exhausted Forest sweet revenge for their defeat at home earlier this season.
Scoring: 3-0, 3-5, 6-5, 9-5, 9-8.
9-11, 12-11, 12-14, 15-14, 15-17, 15-24, 20-24.