Seconds leave it late

With several players missing through injury Chris Parr had to make several changes from the previous game but travelled up to Peterborough with a capable side. With the club having a cancer awareness day in remembrance of former 2nd Team Manager Bernard Jackson the players were desperate to get a win for the man who had led them a merit league title and was responsible for the development of the majority of the side.They were hit with an early blow when Peterborough only had 2 front row players so the game would be played with uncontested scrums. With a pack that wanted to gain the ascendancy at set pieces this was an early blow. The game kicked off at a frantic pace, with both sides looking to offload and attack at all opportunities. Peterborough took the lead early when they exploited an advantage on the blindside and used quick hands to spread the ball down the line to make it 5-0. Luton pulled back through a Thomas Corrigan penalty and then took the lead following excellent work from the forwards at the break down. The Referee awarded a penalty and Corrigan tapped quickly and passed for Chris Davies to crash over to make it 5-8. Both sides continued to push on but Peterborough looked dangerous and after several penalties in a row Nathan Wood was sin binned. The 1 man advantage saw Peterborough run in two late tries before half time, converting one to make it 17-8 at the break.

After some strong words at half time Luton came out like a house on fire. Three quick tries in the opening 15 minutes turned the game on it’s head. Davies grabbed his 2nd in the first minute of the half when he finished off a crisp team attack with pace to make it 17-13. This was followed by two fantastic solo tries from Corrigan and Khrys Speed, which saw both players beat several men before scoring in the corner. Corrigan added the extras on the latter and this made it 17-25. This should have seen Luton close out the game but an unfortunate injury to Peterborough 2nd row saw the game moved from one pitch to another and Peterborough used the 5 minute break to regroup and scored straight away when once again they fed the ball wide and scored in the corner to make it 22-25. Luton were on the back foot and were being penalised, mostly unfairly, for offside at the majority of the breakdowns and eventually the pressure told and they powered under the posts for a converted try with 5 minutes on the clock to make it 29-25. Captain Dwayne Duffy gave some stern words to his players and they knew they had time to snatch a win. They piled on the pressure and Peterborough kept them at bay with some great tackling and giving away penalties. Another penalty was given in the last minute with Peterborough seconds away from victory. They elected to take the scrum and from the base and the ball found Davies who slipped his man and fed in Aidan Kenny who dived over to steal the win. Corrigan added the extra’s to leave the final score 29-32

Captain Dwayne Duffy said “That was a tough game and although there were many errors in our game we showed great heart to snatch the win at the end. Peterborough played really well throughout and gave us a tough examination. We hope their injured player is ok and gets better as soon as possible. As a team we need to work on a few things in training and improve, but today was all about getting the result and putting in a performance for Bernard’s memory”

Team: Dwayne Duffy (C), Harry Smith, Danny O'Connor, Marc Tindall, Adam Day, Dean Ashton, Ryan Sheppard, Connor Sibley, Tom Corrigan, Brandon Lewsey, Nathan Wood, Chris Davies, Khrys Speed, Sam McGregor, Shane Crawley

Subs: Aidan Kenny, Matt Davey, Liam Appleby, Kyle Shiels

Tries: Chris Davies (2), Tom Corrigan, Khrys Speed, Aidan Kenny

Conversion: Tom Corrigan (2)