Northumbria grab points after Howarth try clinches it

WITH the festive break over, Wednesday marked the return of BUCS Super Rugby.

But the first victory of the new year went to the icy chill that swept Britain this week. Title chasers Leeds Beckett were due to host winless Nottingham Trent in the televised evening fixture, but a frozen pitch put paid to the action at West Park.

Instead, the cameras rolled down the M1 to Loughborough, who welcomed Northumbria as fifth hosted third. While the 4G surface was immune to the bitter conditions, a number of early handling errors from both sides suggested the players hands were not.

Northumbria soon found their groove, though, probing the wide channels and allowing arch try scorer Will Muir to swell his season tally to ten down the right flank. George Wacokecoke added a second from the left and, when Jake Ellwood burst through the midfield to feed James Christie in support, it seemed nowhere was safe for Loughborough.

Star man Josh Bragman converted the trio and the men in black were ahead 21-0.

Loughborough eventually woke up thanks to a Will Elk hit. Elk himself scored from the outcome. The impressive Alex Glashan pounced for a second and the crowd finally had a contest.

Frustratingly Loughborough lapsed from the kick-off and Will Bloodworth rampaged into the corner. Bragman added a monstrous penalty and Loughborough had a second-half mountain to climb 12-29.

Quentin Koster gave instant hope of a comeback, scoring within minutes of the whistle, but another botched restart allowed Olly Robinson to reply. Ruairi Howarth then applied the finishing touches to a length-ofthe-field counter and the game was done.

A Matthew Travers try and second from Glashan salvaged a bonus point for the home side, but Northumbria left with five points winning 31-41.

In a hard-fought contest between Exeter and

Durham, the West Country men took the bonus spoils 31-21 at Topsham. Exeter started brightly earning a handsome lead withthree converted tries and a penalty. George Gosling, Sam Morley and Josh Pieters all touched down, with Morley taking every extra on offer. They led 24-9 with Tom Catterick just about keeping Durham in touch with three penalties. The reponse became a genuine threat when Rory Hardman and Chris Johnston crossed and, with Catterick in the mood for points, Durham set up a 24-21 finale.

Exeter, however, delivered the coup de gras via Max Himbry. Morley converted once more and Durham were cruelly denied any points.

Bath suffered late heartbreak against

Cardiff Met in a topsy turvy encounter ultimately losing 21-28.

The elusive feet of Will Partington gave Bath an early 7-0 lead, but the bazooka boot of Met’s Tom Morgan contained the areas to 7-6.

Converted tries from Luke Northmore and Max Llewelyn put the Welshmen in control, but Bath would not lie down. They edged ahead 21-20 when Partington split the posts from the touchline after a Tom Doughty try, just as he had done moments before from a Chris Barry touchdown.

In the final twist Shawne Howard proved the Met hero. Morgan missed the conversion but added a late penalty.