Peterborough RUFC defeat Belgrave and Storm Arwen at Second Drove

A try for Borough's Aram Jones against Belgrave. Photo: David Lowndes.

The game was played in a freezing gale and both teams deserve credit for putting on an entertaining game.

Borough played into the gale in the first half and Belgrave used the wind to great affect, pinning the home side on their own tryline. This pressure lead to a Belgrave converted try, but also woke the home side up.

Sensibly Borough kept ball in hand as any attempt to clear saw the wind blow the ball back towards their own try line. Telling runs from Mooki Olebile, Robert Moulds and Johnathan Hamilton took their toll on the Belgrave defence and lead to two home tries, one to Hamilton and another to wing Aram Jones to give Borough a 12-7 half-time lead.

Sam Crooks in action for Borough v Belgrave at Second Drove. Photo: David Lowndes.

The second half saw the home side, now with the wind in their favour, take control of the game. Further tries to Robert Jacobs, Nic Langton and Ryan Morris and nine points from the boot of fly half Byron Van Uden sealed the win.

Borough did switch off for the last 15 mins which allowed Belgrave to score an unconverted try to complete the scoring.

Borough head coach Shane Manning said: “The first half was excellent. The forwards rolled their sleeves up and really got stuck into their work. Our scrum was excellent and a special mention goes to loose head prop Daniel O’Connell who played 80 minutes in his first game back after a two-year absence and made a huge impact.

“We did switch off for the last 15 minutes which is becoming a bit of a trend. We face a really hard away game next when we travel to (second-placed) Derby. If we want to win we need to keep to the game plan for 80 minutes. The top sides in the league will punish us if we don’t.”

Peterborough Lions called off their Division One contest at home to leaders Bedford Athletic because of a covid outbreak within the squad.