Biggy must do better in second half of season

Biggleswade reach the mid-way point of the season languishing in 11th place in the league just above Bourne – with two clubs to go down to the depths of Midlands 4 the bottom tier of the league structure.

The loss of coach Shane Manning to a paid position he could not refuse was a blow. But the departure of five senior players was a double whammy.

At the start of the season Stockwood Park were winners. An away trip to Birtstall saw a high scoring defeat so that the season was off to a poor start. Confidence was given a boost when newly promoted Bourne was the visitors to Langford Road. They were soundly defeated but had Biggleswade found the formula for success?

The trip to Daventry went the same way as many such trips recently to that location, with defeat..

Then came the highlight of the seasons so far. Dunstablians visited and quickly had a couple of converted tries on the board. But Biggy whittled away the deficit before securing a bonus point for good measure winning 33-21.

A trip to Leicester to play on Forest’s new artificial pitch saw another close fought match before the hosts just sneaked a victory.

The visit of unbeaten league leaders Northampton Casuals was more predictable with Casuals quite clinical in taking full advantage of any scoring opportunities.

The match at the Bedford Ath ground against Queens was disrupted by a head injury to a Biggleswade prop.

As the shadows lengthened Biggleswade came from behind to take the lead but Queens grabbed the winning try in the last minute

Fellow strugglers Rushden & Higham were despatched and the trip to St Neots was enlightened by two tries for Jack Diemer but the match underlined Biggy’s main weakness. They give away over twice as many penalties as they are awarded.

The final match of 2018 ended in an expected win for second placed Stamford.

Biggleswade return to league action on Saturday with the visit of Birstall to Langford Road. Birtstall are sixth in the league table with just one more win than Biggleswade.