The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
Borough winners but Edwards breaks a leg
New Borough coach Phil Powell was encouraged by the performance of his side in their opening Midlands Division One fixture.
They were at home to Northampton Old Scouts and won 30-5 after falling behind early on.
“We were a bit rusty in the first half but the secondhalf showing was most encouraging,” said Powell.
“We dominated up front and I thought our hooker Jamie Dingle stood out. He was our man-of-the-match and Michael Bean was very good in the backs.
“I’d like to think we can manage a top-four finish.”
Try-scorers for Borough were Bean and debutants second row Michael Kelly (2), full-back Matt Newman and scrum-half Ross Chamberlain.
The only disappointment for Borough was that returning forward Ben Edwards suffered a broken leg.
New player/coach Sam Crooks missed the match due to a rib injury which is expected to keep him on the sidelines for a month. Borough: S. Day, J. Dingle, L. Stapleton, R. Linnell, M. Kelly, J. Thompson, C. Sykes, D. Pearce, R. Chamberlain, B. Van Uden, J. Beall, M. Bean, J. Sismey, T. Kanhukamwe, M. Newman. Subs: B. Edwards, L. Murphy, J. Trolove.
In the same division Oundle made a promising start as well. They thrashed Old Northamptonians 4617 at Occupation Road and have become early title favourites.
■ Two of Borough’s experienced first team players from last season have moved on to take coaching positions elsewhere - Reggie Reid with Oundle and Nico Steenkamp with Wisbech.
■ Borough Juggers faced a Barbarians XV under the floodlights at Fengate on Friday night in a memorial match for club legend Benny Lee who passed away in July.
Some of Benny’s family played for the Juggers in what proved to be an entertaining match, watched by a large crowd, befitting of the event.
Nobody had any idea of the score, but rugby was the winner, and a substantial amount of money was raised for Contented Dementia Trust.
■ Borough Ladies lost 4834 at Wellingborough in a friendly on Sunday. Their players-of-the-match were Jess Wilson and Kaleigh Wheeler. Borough host Shelford for their first league match on Sunday (kick-off 2.45pm).