Deepings on top after '˜typical local derby'

James Clarke and Chris Owen touched down where it mattered for Deepings as they successfully bounced back from a loss to unbeaten Birstall a week earlier.

Edwards said: “It was a 
typical local derby but I’m happy that we didn’t look like conceding any tries.

“We didn’t make the most of playing with the wind in the first half and we gave away far too many penalties.

“But at least we scored two tries and we saw a good debut from Charlie Seconde who showed lots of endeavour.”

Winning try scorer Chris Owen said: “It’s always good to celebrate a win over Bourne, but the most important thing was to grind out a result and we managed to that twice this season (after winning 12-3 at Linchfield Road in November).

“We knew that we could stop Bourne from scoring 
tries and we knew that we were capable of scoring them, so it was just a matter of our players getting them.

“I was worried the missed conversions and penalties were going to come back and haunt us but it was a really positive result for the boys.

“The move for the second 
try was something we’d worked on in training, so I was happy to see it come off and now we want to be the 
best team in the area.

“Our captain Guy Cunningham has put a real focus on being the top side in the area and we believe that we can do it, with a really good coach in Tim Edwards and players like Lance Charity who gets quick ball and then gives it really well.”

Deepings now have a two-week break before a home game against bottom side Brackley on March 5 and Owen said: “The top four is a realistic target for us.”