The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
It’s celebration time at last for the Peterborough Lions pride
Rugby union - First Midlands Premier Division win of the season for city side
Peterborough Lions celebrated long into the night after claiming their first positive result of the Midlands Premier Division season.
It’s been a tough year for the city side as their relegation from the National League was followed by a mass exodus of players ahead of a campaign in the competitive Midlands Premier Division.
Eleven straight defeats and a points deduction for failing to fulfil a fixture promptly followed, but Lions tasted victory for the first time with a 26-22 win over Broadstreet at Bretton Park last weekend.
Lions chairman Andy Moore was naturally chuffed.
“I was thrilled for the players,” Moore said. “It’s been a tough season for them, but they’ve never stopped trying or competing.
“There have been signs we were getting close to a win. We’ve been competitive without quite managing to put an 80-minute performance together.
“It was the same in a way on Saturday as we led 26-10 with 15 minutes to go, but the players dug in again and I was proud of them all.
“We have quietly been attracting new players to the club and it’s starting to pay off. The commitment has been first-class.
“We even have some lads based in Derby who have been travelling over every Thursday in the cold, wind and rain to train.
“We want to stay up, but obviously we face an uphill task. This win only got us up to zero points!
“The main priority though is to make sure we don’t get caught out again and we are competitive no matter what division we are playing in next season.
“We are not giving up on this season yet though. We just won one must-win game and now we need to win another must-win game at Burton on Saturday.”
Two clubs will be relegated so Lions are still 20 points from safety at halfway.
Roy Lolesio and Asher Veamatahau scored two tries apiece against Broadstreet with Weir Filikitonga kicking three conversions
Peterborough RUFC • suffered a disappointing 28-17 defeat at home to Oadby Wyggestonians in Midlands Division One. They travel to Olney in their final game of 2019 on Saturday.
Division One East Peterborough (tries Oadby Wyggestonians
Oundle (tries: Maddigan, Davies. pens: Carrington 3, Tandy) 22 Old Northamptonians 8