The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
It was painful but worth it says jubilant Borough coach
Borough coach Phil Powell came out of retirement due to late injury withdrawals and played a key role in his side’s shock win over Midlands Division One title fancies Kettering at Fengate.
He kicked a vital conversion which turned out to be the difference between the two sides in a 12-10 success.
He said afterwards: “My body is in pieces but my god was it worth it. It was a pleasure to be on the pitch with the lads.”
Powell may have slotted a valuable kick and he did in fact play very well at fly-half but the real hero was Zac McClure.
The livewire flanker sealed a man-of-the-match performance with a match-winning try in the last minute.
It was certainly no more than McClure deserved. He was outstanding in all areas of play for Borough - in the first half when they were on the attack and in the second half when they had their backs to the wall.
The winning try came from a break started by John Thompson from deep and which was carried on by half a dozen willing supporters before McClure added the finishing touch in the corner.
And while Borough celebrated wildly, Kettering were kicking themselves for not making a dominant secondhalf showing count for more.
In the first half there was little in it. Borough shaded it territorially and possessionwise but Kettering were always a threat, especially when their backs ran at pace.
It finished 7-5 to Borough. They went behind to a Kettering try from a lineout on 25 minutes but then went ahead five minutes later when player/coach Sam Crooks danced in under the posts after some great approach play by Scott Mills, Stuart Day, McClure and by Crooks himself. Powell added the extras.
Kettering scored a try early in the second half to lead 10-7 and for the rest of the half they proceeded to batter away at the Borough try-line.
But they came up against a stubborn home defence in which every man excelled and were unable to add to their tally further. Then with the seconds ticking away came McClure’s killer blow.
It was a fourth win on the trot for Borough and moved them up to fifth in the table. They are away to Leighton Buzzard on Saturday.
Borough: N. Langton, M. Tshepo-Olebile, M. Bean, R. Morris, T. Stuffins, P. Powell, R. Chamberlain, S. Cowell, J. Dingle, S. Day, J. Thompson, S. Mills, L. Swindells, Z. McClure, S. Crooks. Subs: L. Murphy, O. Pearce, D. Pearce.