Leighton Buzzard 1st XV 9
Matlock 7

Leighton welcomed Matlock to Wrights Meadow on Saturday and with both sides looking to pull clear of the bottom half of the table it promised to be a close fought game.

The Matlock side were led from the front by their No. 8 who was at the heart of all the close drives that the visitors favoured. Leighton tried to move the ball away from the contact area, however the break downs were contested very fiercely so that quick clean ball seemed impossible to achieve from either side.

The game therefore was played in ever decreasing areas of the pitch, whoever was in possession set up rolling mauls or short drives creating ruck after ruck. Each defending side in turn counteracted this with fierce defence, each inch was a battle, 6" was a minor victory.

Leighton did earn two penalties in the first half which Geoff Branwhite converted giving the home team a 6 - 0 lead at the interval.
After the break and playing with the wind behind them the home crowd looked forward to a more expansive half. Matlock however had other ideas and camped in the Leighton 22 for a period of some 25 minutes.

During this time the game remained within an area no bigger than a medium sized paddling pool. The grunt and groan was tremendous, but the Buzzards held out and eventually lifted the siege with a good clearance kick.

Back in the opposition half Branwhite slotted another penalty and it would seem Leighton would close the game out. An attack near the opposition 22 ended in disaster with an interception try bringing the visitors back within 2 points. Leighton however tightened up and played out the remaining minutes for a hard fought win.

Team - Chris Warner, Edd Payne,, Nick Turney, Dan Baroux, Alessandro Parias, James Burrough, Mark Lingard, Gavin Taylor, Berry Yirrell, Bert Yirrell, Geoff Branwhite, Euan Irwin, Sam Janes, Ed Radcliff, Andy Styles
Bench - Dan Batchelor, Carl Perry, Andy Jenkins