Rugby: Biggleswade Men's 1sts finish league with convincing win

Northampton Mens Own 1st XV 10 - 33 Biggleswade Men’s 1st XV

The result wasn’t in doubt for the last game of the league campaign on Saturday (18 Mar), despite a shaky first quarter.

Albert Plunkett, making his first appearance at senior level, didn’t look out of place in the back row. Rhys Sargeant, a promising 2nd XV player, had a run out at No 9 for the last half hour. He too slotted in well, keen to wriggle through any gaps which appeared. Jack Sharp moved to full back and was influential in a good try.

Biggleswade started brightly, almost scoring in the opening attack. But in the touchdown the ball was lost forward by Arran Pickering (who was later to make amends).

Instead, Biggleswade found themselves behind after a drive by Men’s Own at a scrum down the slope in the corner.

Were the Biggy boys to be outplayed in an area that had previously proved so strong? Or was it home local knowledge exploiting the slope advantage?

Stung by this reversal and aided by Men’s Own losing the first of five players sent to the bin for indiscretions, Biggleswade took the lead.

The forwards drove over the line with Pickering credited for the final downward pressure.

Sam Woods added the conversion and another three in the match from four more attempts. He also scored two tries for a personal tally of 18 points.

At half-time Biggleswade still had a two-point lead and were confident of adding more now that they had the slope and wind advantage.

Men’s Own had other ideas and started the second half strongly. Good support play and off-loads led to a try in the corner, as Biggleswade’s defence ran out of cover.

But from then on it was all Biggleswade, who kept their cool when Men’s Own imploded.

There was a try in the corner by winger Tom Anderson after a powerful run by Sharp. Ben Cowling darted in for one and Sam Woods glided through for try number five under the posts.

In the post-match huddle, coach Jimmy Hart praised the squad for the progress they had made in the last few weeks. “You’ve won seven of the 10 games this year and lost the other three by a single score. We had a meeting in December to look at the first part of the season to see where things were not going right. You’ve really stepped up and done the business,” he said.

Head coach Matt Skirving would have said something, but he was still out of breath from a cameo appearance on the wing in the final quarter.

On Saturday there is the semi-final game in the Beds Cup against Bedford Swifts at Langford Road (with a pre-match lunch beforehand). Biggleswade as the higher-placed league side start as favourites but cup rugby can cause upsets.

Team: Arran Pickering, Matt Cowley, Kyle Loan (c), Jake Devereux, James Emerson, Jensen Beal, Albert Plunkett, Ben Yates, Jack Sharp, Sam Woods, Tom Anderson, Ben Cowling, Ollie Vagg, Tom Joannou, Tom Richardson, Andy Burke, Rhys Sargeant, Matt Skirving.