Mens Own will be playing Midlands Three East (South) rugby next season after they avoided relegation on Saturday.
Own lost 34-13 to Stewarts & Lloyds, but Long Buckby’s defeat to Rushden & Higham sealed Own’s safety and consigned Buckby to relegation.
The game against S&L was hard fought from the start with S&L fielding a strong pack that made the Own work hard for the full 80 minutes.
Own applied pressure on the S&L line early on but it was S&L who scored first following good forward driving play to make it 5-0 after 12 minutes.
A hard battle continued and the Mens Own backs tackled well to keep S&L out and the score only changed by an S&L penalty on 15 minutes followed by a Matt Brace penalty on 26 minutes to make it 8-3.
A final drive on 40 minutes by the Corby pack got them the last points of the half with a converted try to make it 15-3 at half-time.
The second half continued with the same hard match and S&L pulled further ahead with a try on 47 minutes.
Own scored next on 58 minutes with a well-taken interception by Tom Frost who showed a good turn of pace to win the 60-metre race to the line to make it 20-8.
Tries from S&L on 70 and 78 minutes put them safe with a bonus point.
Own refused to give up and were rewarded with a try from Steve Ennew following a good phase of pressure on the S&L line.
Despite the defeat there were notable performances from Tom Frost, Nick Brown, Chris Gould, Danny Golden and Alex Cairns.
Mens Own’s secons string hosted Old Scouts in a friendly and won 40-25.
This weekend sees Own take on Bedford Queens in their final league match of the campaign.
Rose shines in ONs romp
Alex Rose inspired Old Northamptonians to an eight-try romp as they swept aside Matlock 52-0 at the picturesque Cromford Meadows ground.
ONs led 19-0 at half-time and a further five tries after the break saw them claim their 20th victory of the season. Man-of-the-match Rose scored 22 individual points in the win.
The ONs took an early lead when they won a scrum against the head and after moving the ball to the left switched the attack across to the right and Richard Blank stretched over the line but he was injured in scoring and replaced by Jack Bradbury.
A Matt Love break almost produced a second try for the visitors however the pass missed the intended receiver, Matlock gathered and only a last-ditch tackle prevented a score at the other end.
A mazy run from Matlock’s top try-scorer Henry Packard again threatened the ONs line but when possession was lost the ONs countered, Alex Rose finished and added the two points, the first of his six successful conversions.
Five minutes later the ONs scored their third try when a misdirected kick was fielded by Rose and he made ground before a long pass found Rory Seymour who handed on to Dan Napier to step inside the defence before touching down under the posts to give the ONs a 19-0 lead at the break.
This lead was extended to 26-0 within two minutes of the restart.
Matlock again lost the ball in contact, Rose picked up, fed Sam Howes and his offload put Chris McKee over for the bonus-point score.
The ONs were now dominating the game and Bradbury raced through the middle before Matlock were penalised. A scrum was chosen, the play was moved to the blindside and Rose went in for his second.
Jake Spencer, whose strong running had caused the Matlock defence problems all afternoon, was the next casualty and McKee moved from the back row to centre but this enforced change didn’t affect the ONs control.
Bradbury again picked his way through the middle,Phil Beaumont was in support and when the ball was recycled, Seymour’s long pass found Love who touched down.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon from the visiting supporters followed the seventh try.
Captain Rhys Hughes received the ball 30 metres from the opposition line and despite having supporting players all around he set off on a thundering run, leaving would be tacklers in his wake as he powered over.
McKee rounded off the scoring after he picked up another spilled opposition pass and despite the ONs being down to 14 for the final five minutes following a yellow card,the defence held firm as Matlock pounded the line seeking a consolation try.
Scouts end season on high
Scouts’ patched-up squad, with 13 forwards included, completed a double over Lutterworth to round off the season on a high. Scouts won 29-12 with tries coming from Tom Powell, Russ Lynch (2), Adam Frost and Cameron Hauxwell.
Faced with several injuries Scouts had been forced to play players out of position as well as calling in a few favours to make the squad up.
This did not deter them from attacking from the first whistle and after two minutes a Frost jink past his opposite fly half saw scrum-half Powell touch down. Frost added the extras.
Within five minutes a kick and chase from a loose ball in midfield resulted in skipper Lynch crossing the line.
Lynch then scored his second when Aaron Ashmore countered from full back and quick hands from winger James Blackmore put Lynch through a gap to dot down out wide.
Although Frost missed both conversions Scouts were cruising at 17 points to nil with barely 15 minutes on the clock.
Lutterworth were looking like a beaten side but in the face of adversity fought back with 12 points late in the half to bring the score to 17-12.
The second half started in similar fashion to the first and Frost fooled everyone with an outrageous dummy to go in under the posts and he duly converted to increase the lead.
This try secured a rare bonus point for the visitors and Scouts cruised through the rest of the game in complete control.
Hauxwell rounded off the scoring for Scouts with a deserved try in the latter stages to complete the scoring.
Market Bosworth’s hopes hit by Towcester
Towcestrians dealt a big blow to Market Bosworth’s efforts in avoiding Midlands One East relegation after winning 28-25.
Tows led 14-7 at half-time thanks to tries from Chrissie George and Matt Yuill, both converted by James Falvey.
The visitors’ performance waned slightly in the second half, as though they had one eye on last night’s Alliance Cup final at Franklin’s Gardens.
But Tows did just enough to secure the win, with further tries from Ronnie Speakman andYuon Skelton, both converted by Ben Roe.
Tows’ colts will join the club’s Lewis Shield side in the Oceanic Cup final at Franklin’s Gardens after a 20-10 win over Casuals.
Bad start costly for Brackley
Brackley’s season came to a disappointing close on the road to Bedford Swifts. Just as they had failed to show up in the first half against Daventry three days earlier, so it was against Swifts on Saturday.
Trailing 25-0 at the interval, Brackley were a shadow of the team that swept all before them for 20 consecutive league matches. They produced a much-improved second half display but the damage was already done as they went down 28-19.