Luton show character to beat Chingford

Sixth place Luton came into the match after a two week break due to a walkover victory against Peterborough Lions in the East Midlands cup last weekend. Third place Chingford came to Newlands keen to avenge last season’s emphatic defeat.

Chingford were on top from the first whistle but it was Luton who scored after 12 minutes when fly half Rick Hobbs burrowed his way over after a good exchange of passes got the hosts close to the Chingford’s try line. Hobbs added the conversion to give Luton a seven point lead.

Chingford gave themselves something to build on when David Dufus scored a try in the 20th minute, but fly half Dan Boughtwood missed his conversion, to leave the scores at 7-5. The rest if the first half saw Chingford applying pressure while Luton remained resolute. At the interval, the home-team was leading by a slim margin of 7-5.

A wet start to the second half saw Luton forwards and backs combine to send wing Jonny Wright through Chingford’s defensive line to cross the whitewash, but the 'try' was disallowed by the referee due to an infringement by a Luton player, and so the score remained 7-5.

The muddy surface made flowing rugby difficult, and it was no surprise when Chingford were awarded a penalty in the 57th minute for a mistimed tackle, which Dan Boughtwood duly converted. The visitors led for the first time in the afternoon (7-8). However In the 59th minute Luton were awarded a penalty of their own and Hobbs put it between the posts to make it 10-8.

The tide was turning in favour of the home team and in the 67th minute Luton continued to pile on the pressure winning numerous scrums and using driving mauls to push Chingford back towards their goal line. From a five yard scrum substitute Tomkinson scored, but Hobbs could not add the extras.

As the conditions deteriorated Luton resorted to a kicking game. In the 77th minute from a turn-over Hobbs guided a drop goal between the post to put the final nail into Chingford’s miserable afternoon. 18-8 it finished.

After the final whistle, Luton’s director of rugby Paul Allen was enthused with the victory, as he beamed: “It was a fantastic performance by the boys today. I really think that the two-week break did help to recharge the batteries. We will take the win in whatever conditions, and I feel that the backline did indeed step up today and showed tremendous improvement.”

Luton RFC remains in sixth position on the league table, and they will visit table toppers Eton Manor next weekend.

Nigel Makale
Match reporter