A STRONG St Neots side came out on top against Royston II in an entertaining game of rugby on the Heath.

A STRONG St Neots side came out on top against Royston 2nds in an entertaining game of rugby on the heath.

St Neots turned up with a strong line up with a number of players playing below their usual standard due to apparent internal disagreements.

It looked very much like St Neots had shot themselves in the foot as their 1st team went down by more than 40 points to their Royston counterparts and surely some of the players who played against 2nds would of made a difference to that scoreline.

The game started well with both sides attacking freely. Royston shaded the scrums through their powerful front row of Patmore, Dummett and Green and won the battle of the sky through veteran Roy Phillips in the line out.

St Neots in return were far quicker in the back row department and were generally first to most break downs, turning over a few balls in the loose,

The first score went to St Neots when their big fast back rower tapped a quick penalty and went over unopposed and this was quickly followed by their burly centre bashing through a number of tackles to add to their score before half time.

Royston reduced the deficit on the stroke of half time when Jason Deards put his head down and powered over his opposite number to score a converted try.

The second half was dominated by Royston as the power game of their forwards really came to the fore, with both Patmore and then Colin Letch scoring from well formed driven mauls.

Despite spending 70 percent of the time in St Neots half another score failed to materialize mainly due to the high work rate of the St Neots openside who was putting in tackle after tackle as well as leading the charge.

It was from one such break where he sped down the right touchline after a great cover tackle by Andy Smith and despite the crowd’s cry of in touch the ball was flung aimlessly back in field. All the Royston players stopped as they believed the big crowd, but unfortunately play was waved on and St Neots ran in an un opposed try. The other try came again from their big centre’s powerful running, after lining up a five-on-two situation he was put away to score the final try and seal the win.

All in all it was a good game of rugby, played in the right spirit and with a good deal of enjoyment. The 2nds can take heart in the fact that there are more players to return from their summer breaks and as always they will be more than happy to accept any newcomers.

Any one interested in playing rugby can come to training on Tuesdays or Thursadys at 7pm on the heath or call - 07969570125.