Defence holds firm as Bosworth see out victory

Northampton Old Scouts 10 Market Bosworth 13

WITH only one point separating the teams in the league and with home advantage to the Old Scouts it always looked as though this encounter was going to be a close thing and with a strong wind blowing from one end of the pitch to the other things were not going to be easy.

From the kick off and with the wind behind them it was Market Bosworth who created the first bit of the action getting to within five metres of the try line but with scrum half Tom Hilyer getting too involved in some forward moves it was number eight Ricky Wickwar who was forced to clear the ball from the base of the maul several times before a simple error gave the Old Scouts the chance to clear their line.

Fortunately, after fifteen minutes of effort, Bosworth were able to use the wind to get play into the Old Scouts’ twenty-two and from a line out ten metres out won the ball, created a maul from which wing forward Jamie Thomson was able to open the scoring for an unconverted Bosworth try.

The restart saw Old Scouts master the wind by getting the ball into Bosworth’s twenty-two for a few seconds before play reverted to the Old Scouts’ half where Bosworth put on a great handling display only for one pass to be judged to have gone forward giving possession to the home side who, keeping ball to hand, produced an impressive display which resulted in a try under the posts which, as the kick into the wind failed to go over the bar, levelled the score.

From a quickly-taken penalty, Bosworth passed left and then right allowing Kai Randle to go over in the corner for Bosworth’s second try just on half time.

Starting the second half with only a two tries to one advantage and playing into the wind it looked as though Bosworth would find it difficult to retain the lead, however, as play moved into the Old Scouts’ half the visitors realised that their best bet was to choose a scrum when the option arose getting them closer to the posts until a kickable opportunity became available for Mitch Culpin to slot one over successfully to create an eight-point advantage.

The game developed into a midfield display. Bosworth at this point put all three replacements on at once in the hope that fresh bodies would make the difference.

All sorts of clever tactics were used to try and break the deadlock but nothing seemed to work. Unfortunately, a serious head wound to Bosworth’s full back, Jon Horne, was a very worrying time for all concerned. The game was delayed for several minutes and the versatile Tom Hilyer returned to the field to replace the injured player. This breathing space must have been more beneficial to the home side who straight from the restart passed the ball the width of the pitch to score in the corner which made it too difficult for the kicker.

The thirteen minutes or so of injury time became very frantic with Old Scouts sensing that they could win the game with just one more try putting immense pressure on the Bosworth defence who’s tackling saved the day time after time.

Eventually it all came down to a line out throw-in judged by the referee not to have been straight followed by a scrum won by Bosworth letting the scrum half clear to touch to end the game for their first double of the season. The final score, Northampton Old Scouts 10 – Market Bosworth 13.

This result keeps Bosworth in fourth place in the league where only eight points separate the top four teams. This Saturday is a rest week for Bosworth and Vipers whereas the rest of the league have to play the fixtures that were washed out in December.

The next game at Cadeby Lane will be at 2.15pm on January 25th against St Ives.