Two's Turn in Triple Try Triumph

Skipper Charlie Standley pens the match report

"Obviously the conditions were not great; the stand-in skipper (me) decided to play down-wind, uphill in the first half. Lutterworth started marginally the better, their pick and drive game gaining them valuable yards, but once we sorted out our fringe defence they didn't have much of a plan B. They defended very narrow and our two first half tries, after roughly 10 and 20 minutes, were both the result of long passes. Firstly Jamie Thorpe got the ball 20 yards out, still with a fair bit to do, stepped his man well and scored in the corner. Then Harry Hurst picked up a daisy-cutting pass for a simple try in the other corner. Joe Whitworth couldn't quite add either conversion in heavy cross-winds. Half time score: 0-10.

We expected the second half to be extremely tough as the fresh breeze of the first had become a near-gale, and had changed direction so it was almost in our faces. But we played some excellent rugby, defending aggressively and denying Lutterworth any extended periods of possession or territory.

Mid-way through the half, Fergus Clarke, out of position at scrum-half but nevertheless enjoying an excellent match, spotted a gap at the base of a ruck, and sprinted home from 25 yards to score what was effectively the decisive try. Soom afterwards Joe Whitworth added a penalty. With 10 minutes to spare, Lutterworth finally broke Harborough's magnificent resistance to score out wide but could not add to their tally thereafter.

We ended the match the stronger side, and very nearly crossed the whitewash with the last play of the game for the bonus point try, but were held up just short. Nevertheless, to win 5-18 in the league at one's closest rivals is an outstanding result."