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Loughborough (A) - Won 17-14
Final Score: 17-14

Last Sunday saw Towcestrians U13's travel up the M1 to play against a club that they had never met in any Mini rugby fixtures, Loughborough U13's. So it was a bit difficult to know what sort of match to expect, however both sides have reached the Semi-final of their respective cup competitions so a tough game was expected.

It was certainly a tough game and both sides were very evenly matched so provided a very entertaining mornings rugby for all the spectators that had braved the cold to watch. The first 15 minutes were scoreless but some very good rugby was played. Tows had most of the territory and spent a long period in the Loughborough half mostly around the 22, but the home forwards were turning the ball over on a regular basis to enable the pressure to be relieved for a short while only for Tows fullback Chris Yuill to run the ball back from kicked clearances a number of times.

The first breakthough score came from a penalty awarded to Tows near halfway. It was taken quickly and the ball moved through the backs hands for Joe Winterburn to sweep wide left, outflank the defence and score the first try near the posts. Josh Goodall then converted to make it 7-0 to Tows.

From the kick off Tows failed to claim the ball and Loughborough recycled a couple of times before being awarded a scrum on the 22. They won quick ball and from a No8 pick up and very powerful run scored under the posts and converted the try to make the score 7-7 at half time.

The second half started much the same as the first had done, but with Towcester conceding fewer turnovers each side had sustained period of possession, and slowly Tows moved the game towards the opposition line. The pick and drive and close offloading game was working well for Tows and from a ruck on the 5 metre line Ben Anderson picked the ball up and drove for the line, he was half tacked but made a great effort to reach out and place the ball on the try line to score. 12-7 to Tows.

Lutterworth then had a period of possession but good defence from Tows was keeping them just inside their own half. That was until a very strong run through the midfield and some less than aggressive tackling allowed the Lutterworth centre to break the defence and run half the length of the pitch to score under the posts. The conversion was successful to put Lutterworth in the lead for the first time 12-14.

Then with about 10 minutes to play and after a good build up by Tows the ball was moved left down the backs and a great take and give by Matt Chalcraft released Joe Sinclair who used his pace to score in the corner to put Tows back in the lead at 17-14.

The next 5 minutes were very even but Tows managed to hold on to the lead to achieve a very hard fought win against strong opposition. This will certainly be a fixture to look forward to in future years!