Buzzards win convincingly in final home game

Whilst the visitors are the league’s bottom side, they put up a spirited performance - midway through the second half there was only a five point gap before Buzzards pulled away in the final quarter.

Leighton kicked off downhill and with the slight benefit of a crosswind. It took eight minutes for the Buzzard backs to show their style that would be sporadically evident throughout the game - running the ball from deep in their half to close to the try line. Shortly afterwards Jack Whitehouse broke through and seemed certain to score but was held up over the line.

Ten minutes later, Buzzards once again thought they were about to score as captain, Owen Forsythe, charged towards the line. However the referee had unintentionally obstructed a Lions defender so stopped play and came back to a Leighton penalty which Tom Winch converted for a 3-0 lead.

Peterborough responded almost immediately. A couple of penalties had given the visitors a good attacking position. Whilst the initial Leighton defence held firm, the ball was spread wide for a try in the corner to leave Buzzards trailing 3-5.

In a half of missed opportunities, Leighton almost scored a third time as Will Bennett charged towards the line, only for the referee’s whistle to bring an end to a promising situation.

After all the near misses, Buzzards scored twice in two minutes. Whitehouse scored both, the second after excellent handling by Wills Messum and Jack Kempster. With Winch converting the first try, Leighton led 15-5.

Once again the visitors rallied and scored a fine converted try from their own half. However, shortly afterwards, the ten-point advantage was restored as centres Whitehouse and Eddie Wiggins combined well for Wiggins to score. With Winch converting, Buzzards took a 22-12 lead into half-time.

The second half started well for Buzzards. Following a break by Jacob Dove the ball was passed wide to Kempster but the try-scoring pass was adjudged forward. However a couple of minutes later Winch carved through to score under the posts and converted his own try to put Buzzards 29-12 ahead.

If the home crowd felt comfortable with a 17 point lead, they were soon concerned as the visitors scored two tries in quick succession. With one of these converted, Buzzards’ lead at 29-24 seemed precarious.

If Leighton had been inconsistent for the first hour, they finally managed to convert their undoubted attacking threat into points, Firstly Jacob Dove was prevented from scoring by a high tackle – just a penalty rather than a penalty try was awarded but this hardly mattered as Euan Irwin crashed over following a quick tap. Winch converted to extend the lead to 36-24.

Two further tries were added, both by Ryan Eaton, showing excellent support to breaks by Wiggins and Irwin. Winch converted one of these to take his personal tally to 18 and the final score 48-24.

This weekend Leighton travel to Northampton Old Scouts for their final league game of the season.