Leighton Buzzard U17
Leighton Buzzard Rugby's U17s have made it through to the National Plate final and will play at the Sixways Stadium, home of the Premiership's Worcester Warriors on May 3 after beating Penrith 36-24.
The young Buzzards flew north for the National Plate Semi Final to the home of the Division One leading lights Doncaster Knights.

This was the biggest and toughest challenge to date in their short but successful rugby careers.

Their opponents were the highly rated Penrith, newly crowned Northern division Plate champions following their convincing 35-10 victory over local rivals Carlisle.

The near perfect weather conditions and the prestigious new £3 million facilities of the Knights Castle Park ground providing an appropriate stage for the young Buzzards' burgeoning rugby talents.
Penrith kicked off, with the very slight advantage of use of the breeze in the first half.

Buzzards fielded the kick and looked to attack from the off, making good ground on the right, as Pratt made good ground from an early pass.
Play broke down on half way and Buzzards were awarded the first scrum of the day.

Penrith won the ball against the head and attacked immediately, bringing their talented full back into play at the very first opportunity.

An almost effortless brake saw him hauled into touch by Janes his opposite number only five metres from the line.

It was game on for the Buzzards in case they had been in any doubt about the quality of their opponents.

Buzzards were undaunted and were on the offensive immediately.
Both sides were hugely committed to the contact situation, as no quarter was asked, or given.

Buzzards probed hard, but the Penrith pack were looking as mobile as the Buzzards in the early exchanges.

The deadlock was broken on eight minutes, when scrum half Wood stole the ball from his opposite number at a scrum 30 metres out.

His half break and quick ruck ball saw the ball spun wide for Pratt, off his own right wing, squeeze into the left hand corner.

Evans missed the very difficult touch line conversion, by inches.
Penrith threw themselves wholeheartedly back into the fray, as they moved the ball efficiently and effectively along their back line.

Buzzards defence was in fine form as in particular the back row of Messum, Lingard and Pollitt-Evans combined effectively with backs Adams, Earl and Braithwaite in midfield.

Penrith were next to score as they benefited from a somewhat dubious penalty decision at a scrum on half way.

The resultant deep penalty kick and quick line out ball saw the opposition probe the Buzzard line.

A poor floating pass was then nearly intercepted by the Buzzards, but fortunately managed to reach the full back, who was not the intended recipient, he then proceeded to scored wide out on the left.

Buzzard's response was immediate, as they drove into the Penrith 22 meter area and bundled the ball carrier into touch.

Buzzards employed a drive from the line out and Wood again made a half brake, but was well tackled, Lingard was on hand and powered his way through the whole Penrith pack to redress the balance, conversion Evans.
Buzzards were now in top gear, as they tore into Penrith from the restart, another series of driving handling plays saw Buzzards awarded as scrum on half way.

A well rehearsed move involving Messum ,Wood and Janes saw Messum race away to outstrip the defence into the corner and crucially, under the posts to make Evans conversion a formality.

Penrith were flagging in the heat and the relentless pursuit of the Buzzards saw them struggle to retain effective possession.

Buzzards' next attack saw the backs sweep the ball wide to winger Keating, who sensing the line was not achievable, deftly passed inside to Adams who touched down in a flash, as he was tackled.

The officials were unable to decide that the try had defiinitely been scored. Wood broke from the resultant scrum and Adams moved in from fly half, to snipe the final metre to the line and deservedly record the score at the second time of asking.

The half time whistle came in the nick of time for Penrith, who were reeling from the Buzzards onslaught 24-5 down.

Buzzards started the second half as they finished the first when a poor defensive kick was fielded 35 meters out.

Quick hands saw prop Evans in space on the left, his explosive burst of pace and dummy, saw him ghost past two defenders, a quality off load to Lingard saw him race in unopposed from 20 metres and under the posts, with the conversion following from Evans.

Trailing 31-5 Penrith were looking down the barrel of a gun but to their immense credit, they never took a backward step and continued to attack at every opportunity.

Their influential full back, a member of the Newcastle Falcons academy, was a constant threat, and was clearly the Buzzards nemesis, as he was in support to finish of a well worked converted try on the left.

Buzzards were soon back on the attack again and their handling and support play was of the highest order.

Messum made a half break but was swamped by the Penrith defence, but Pollitt-Evans single handedly won the ball from three opponents and set off the next attack.

Forwards and backs alike linked and mesmerised their opponents with their handling skills and lines of running.

Keating, at full pace, exploded pass the final defender, to score in the corner. His work done, Keating was ably replaced by Hood.

With the score at 36-12 Buzzards gave their bench a run as Byard, Holmes and Blake made for a seamless change.

Buzzards' dominant scrum was again penalised for being little more than, more competent than their opponents.
Penrith threw everything they had left into the final moments of the game with a commendable 'never say die' attitude which ably demonstrated how they had got this far in the competition.

With five minutes remaining Buzzards brought Barker, Meader and Frankland into play.

Penrith's fly half – a Sale Sharks Academy player – made a half break and yes, that man at 15 was on hand to score again.

The final minute of the game saw players from both sides literally strewn across the pitch, as they threw their all into it.

Buzzards were away for what looked like a certain score, as a three man advantage appeared on the right, but the referee correctly stopped the game for safety reasons as a Buzzards player lay injured.

The Buzzards were somewhat indignant, however, when the referee awarded the final scrum of the game to Penrith at the restart.

Buzzards withdrew two 'wounded' backs from the fray and Penrith struck the final blow of a simply breathtaking game, as they found their number 15 again to make it four tries for the day, with a score in the corner.

The final score of 36-24 arguably did not reflect the Buzzards dominance of a very good Penrith side.

The Penrith coaches and supporters were very magnanimous in defeat, acknowledging that the game was effectively over as a contest 20 minutes from the end, as Buzzards always looked to have a spare gear or two in hand if required.

Congratulations to the whole squad, who can be duly proud of quality of their performance throughout: Karl Evans, Jacob Barker, Tom Cormie, Adam Meader, Buster Yirrell, Guy Hunt, Calum Holmes, Tom Overton , Tom Jones, Charles Blake, Jake Norman, Scott Pollitt-Evans, Mark Lingard, Tom Byard, Tim Frankland, George Messum, George Hills, Chris Wood, George Adams, James Earl, Conrad Braithwaite, Tom Hamper, David Keating, Chris Booth, Tom Pratt, Nathan, Hood, Jack Kempster and Sam Janes.

The team will face Bracknell at Worcester.