The brilliant Borough boys are doing the Fengate club proud

On Sunday the Under 16s were celebrating after clinching the East Midlands League Premier Division title for the first time.

They beat arch rivals Old Northamptonians 20-5 in Northampton with tries by George Lindsey, Tim Moore and Brandon Calderbank to complete their league programme unbeaten.

And the talented squad coached by John Sismey, Mark Yeeles, Adrian Swindells, Stuart Lindsey and Jamie Lovett could go on to complete a trophy treble as they are also in the Cambs County Cup final and the East Midlands Cup semi-finals.

The Under 16 success follows close on the heels of the club’s Under 15 team reaching the Cambs County Cup final for the second year running.

They did so by beating Royston 21-10 through tries by Daniel Poulter, Ryan Adams and Aidan Tipton, all converted by Tipton.

Junior chairman Matt Throne said: “The club are delighted to win the East Midlands Under 16 League title and it demonstrates the depth of young talent being nurtured by some top quality coaches across Borough’s thriving junior section.

“The future certainly looks very bright indeed.”

The progress of several members of the Under 16 team is being monitored by Northampton Saints. Calderbank has already signed a contract with their Academy while Lindsey, Nick Langton and Josh Yeeles are in their Elite Training Group.

And six more of the boys - Byron Van Uden, David Braga, James Stuffins, Josh Cross, Liutauras Bereznevicius and Toby Ashcroft - will be playing for East Midlands Under 16s against Eastern Counties at Leys School in Cambridge on Sunday (noon kick-off).

On the senior front, Borough seconds made it 10 wins on the bounce when taking the honours 12-10 at Bletchley seconds on Saturday with tries by Sam Redhead and Cameron Grey and a conversion by Will Cook.

Cook’s great decision-making and excellent kicking earned him the man-of-the-match award but there were also good displays by forwards Tom Bird, Luke Bailey , George Hicks and Adam Whiles.

Borough firsts were without a game last Saturday but resume their Midlands Division Two East (South) campaign at Oakham this weekend (2.15pm kick-off).

Skipper John Thompson, a fireman, reurns to the squad after missing the last game against Oadby Wyggs due to work commitments, but long term injury victims Zak McClure and Kyle Bratt are still out.

Borough have lost to the top four teams in their last four games and will be determined to halt a slide towards the relegation zone.

Coach Lee Adamson said: “January has been tough. The boys have come up against some big physical sides, and eventually that takes a toll on their bodies.

“We can now re- group and concentrate on finishing the season as strongly as possible. Numbers at training have been good and having watched the second team win their 10th game on the trot last Saturday, that gives me some interesting options.

“We lost the home game against Oakham, but we will be better prepared this time around “

LIONS

Peterborough Lions were beaten for the first time this year when going down 13-5 at Old Halesonians in a re-arranged National League Division Three match.

It was played on a waterlogged surface with a gale-force wind howling straight down the pitch.

Halesonians led 10-0 at half-time with Vernon Horne crossing for a solo try for the Lions in the second half to bring it back to 10-5.

Then Halesonians kicked a last-minute penalty.

Coach Darren Fox said: “It was a tough old game against one of the strongest teams in the division yet with a little bit more composure in the second half we could have won it.

“We perhaps panicked a bit towards the end and a lack of concentration meant we conceded a penalty with the last play of the game which cost us a losing bonus point. That was hard to take but I couldn’t fault the effort.

“The boys are still learning and they will come back stronger.”

The Lions face the long trip to Crewe on Saturday to play Sandbach and Fox is convinced his side will return to winning ways against a team fourth from bottom in the table.

“I’ve given the lads a week off from training to recharge their batteries - they’ve earned it,” added Fox.

“It will be interesting to see how they respond. I expect it to be positive.”