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1st TEAM   Match Report

Saturday 16th December 2006

League Fixture

LUTTERWORTH  1st XV: 36pts    v  LOUGHBOROUGH 1st XV:  12pts

Robbed of a couple of key players by Bobby Williams' wedding to the lovely Laura, (congratulations from everyone at The Club to them! )  Lutterworth maintained their winning form and consolidated their second position in Midlands Three East North. It was a game for the connoisseur, a enthralling contest that started with Loughborough looking determined to avenge their single point losing margin at home a month ago but inexorably and inevitably moving towards a convincing Lutterworth victory.

For the first ten minutes the visitors had nearly all the possession and territory and took an early lead with a fine try by their scrum half set up from a driving maul. It must have gone to their heads, after the resulting kick off they were in complete disarray and a series of handling errors allowed Lutterworth flanker, Ben Husthwaite to tidy up and equal the scores with a converted try. Two massive drives through the midfield provided no rewards for the Lutterworth pack but shortly afterwards a combination of dominant forward play and imaginative open rugby was finished effortlessly by winger Phil Daffern after he received a long flat pass delivered with pin point accuracy by centre, Charlie Roberson. Loughborough replied instantly to level the score once more when their winger ignored a four-man overlap and dived over just evading a desperate last minute tackle by Morne Barnardo. Towards the end of the period Lutterworth gained the upper hand and won the first half in time honoured style when hooker, Al Johnson took the ball over from the back of a driven maul.

It had been an engaging and close fought forty minutes but Loughborough had given their best, the second half was all Lutterworth who delivered seventeen unanswered points. Skipper, Dennis Hall inspired his side with his phenomenal work rate and he was instrumental in getting the ball away to the backs for Daffern’s second try of the day, the winger scorched through riding a good tackle from a Loughborough defender and touching down under the posts. The Loughborough backs still posed a threat but were consistently snuffed out by a series of bone crunching textbook tackles by Morne Barnardo. Lutterworth’s trade mark hammer blow, a scrum inside the ten metre line set up Charlie Roberson for team try number five and Daffern was in the action again when he intercepted and shipped the ball to Jim Croucher to seal a substantial victory with a final converted try.   

Scoring: 0-7; 7-7; 12-7; 12-12; 17-12;24-12; 29-12; 36-12.

Team:                    Wilford    A.Johnson   Stevens

                                        I. Johnson     Evans

                                  Gregory    Husthwaite      Hall

                                          Newman     Court

                     Daffern      Barnardo  Roberson  Stretton

                                              Croucher

                                Reps:   R. Jones,   Van Heerden,    Higgins