Stamford College Old Boys hosted undefeated league leaders Northampton BBOB’s this weekend. It was a well anticipated fixture that the Old Boys were fired up for as BBOBs returned to the league after relegation from the league above.

Northampton won the toss and elected to kick off. Both teams were battling hard in the first 15 minutes, but neither side were able to take control of the game thanks to impressive defence from both sides. It the College who eventually broke the deadlock after opting to kick, which Carl Brierley-Lewis slotted calmly between the posts giving the Old Boys a 3-0 lead.

The back-and-forth continued but the pressure from the Stamford pack started to weigh on BBOBs, as hard running from the likes of Juggins and Fraser gave the College the upper hand. Unfortunately, despite a strong effort from the College, playing a man down due to a yellow card eventually wore them down. On the stroke of half-time Northampton broke through to score the first try of the afternoon. The try wasn’t converted and the score at half time was 3-5 to Northampton BBOBs.

That sparked new energy into the Old Boys, who weren’t going to roll over and admit defeat. Instead, the College went into the second -half with a deep determination to get their first league victory of the season.

A handful of minutes after the restart, it was a well worked line out routine that gave college their opening try of the afternoon. A perfectly executed line-out move saw Sam Duncan plow through the Northampton defender to score in the corner. Brierley-Lewis kicked the conversion and took the score to 10-5.

Eager to build the scoreboard, another training ground move saw Stamford cross the line ten minutes into the second half. Jamie Jenkins joined the forward pods and, with some impressive footwork, crashed the ball over the line. Brierley-Lewis once again converted the try and The Old Boys lead 17-5.

The College piled pressure onto Northampton immediately after the restart. With Northampton starting to concede penalties for infringements at the breakdown, it wasn’t long before the Old Boys were back within kicking range. Brierley-Lewis stepped up once again to keep the scoreboard ticking over and The College extended their lead to 20-5.

Much to BBOBs credit, they weren’t finished yet. With ten minutes remaining some impressive running from their backline helped them break the Stamford defence out wide, scoring their second of the afternoon. The try wasn’t converted - hitting the crossbar instead - and the score was 20-10.

The Old Boys knew they had to dig deep to repel a strong BBOBs side who had momentum for the remainder of the game - and they did so effectively. As fatigue set in, the final moments saw a growing number of knock-ons and scrums - somewhere the Northampton side had the edge all afternoon. The College pack had to work hard.

With under a minute remaining on the match, the Old Boys won a scrum deep into the Northampton half. After securing the ball, and running some tight forward carries to eat precious seconds, the ball was moved out wide to Frankie Nespoli who danced around the BBOBs defenders to score in the corner - and cement the vital College win, ending BBOBs unbeaten season.

Stamford College Old Boys 1st XV continue their league campaign this weekend with an away trip to Castle Donington, while the 2nd XV will host old friends Bourne at Stamford Welland Academy.