Students come of age to hold off Lucs rally

THERE is no way to describe this game at Mortimer Park other than a game of two halves, as Loughborough Students hung on to win a thriller against Luctonians.

The Students came flying out of the blocks on a dry, still afternoon in Herefordshire, racing into a 26-0 lead after just a quarter of the game.

Loughborough punished every loose kick and error the home side gave up as William Kaye scored a brace inside ten minutes, one from counter-attack ball and another from a quick-tap penalty.

Joseph Browning and Cameron Boon also added scores, with Owen Waters adding three conversions to secure the bonus point early.

Browning then grabbed a second, set up by a chip from Waters, who subsequently nailed the conversion to take the lead out to 33 points before Guy Kirkby’s effort from a driving maul sent Lucs in 33-7 behind at the interval.

If the first half was all Students, the second period was dominated by Lucs.

Sustained spells of pressure on the back of scrum and maul superiority, allowed Frank Kelly, Callum Young and Josh Watkins to all go over for scores during the course of the second 40 minutes.

Each of those three tries were converted by Louis Silver to secure a four-try bonus point for the Black and Whites.

And Waters’ solitary penalty in reply on 66 minutes ended up being the difference come the final whistle as Cam Tawfik’s opportunistic try with the final play of the game secured Lucs a second bonus point in an entertaining 36-33 defeat.