Dees battle to win over Luton Rugby

Dunstablians got their new season preparations off a superb start with a hard-fought 22-12 victory at local rivals Luton in a pre-season friendly last Friday evening.

The first try came through a well worked backs move in the Luton 22 with a wide pass from Joe Murphy ending in Danny Mills cutting a sharp line to pierce the Luton defence and touch down wide on the right, with Murphy’s conversion drifting narrowly off target.

Luton drew level a few minutes later as they turned over ball on the halfway line and some weak defending allowed Ryan Staff to score an unconverted score in the corner.

Tempers rose with penalties awarded for both sides resulting in Scott Oliver being the first to be sin-binned as the ref tried to settle both sides down.

Campbell Haig ensured Dunstablians finished the half the stronger as he found the ball in the opposition half, breaking through the first tackle before dummying to create a gap and then showing a clean pair of heels as he raced to score between the posts with Murphy adding the extras.

Shortly before the break Luton’s number eight was also yellow carded after persistent off the ball antics as Dees led 12-5 at the interval.

The second half saw a number changes made by both sides as Dees took some time to settle back into their play.

Luton took full advantage as Tom Mahendren scored after some good forward play deep in Dees’ half, with Tom Corrigan converting.

As Dees began to find their form again, Luton started to give away penalties at the breakdown as they tried to slow down the visitors’ attacks.

Murphy eventually added three points from one of the penalties as Dees edged ahead 15-12.

Another Murphy penalty moved Dees deep into the Luton half and from the resulting lineout Tom Evans made inroads with an immensely powerful run, only to be brought down metres away from the try-line.

Under pressure, the ball was spun wide by Dees’ energised backs as young winger Max Thorne did well to score in the corner, with Murphy converting.

An evenly-matched and exhilarating finish saw Dees show their defensive qualities to stop a number of Luton attacks, before Luton’s defence held firm with some unconventional hits as they slowed the pace of the game but were unable to reply.

Luton director of rugby Paul Allen added: “It’s been a long week of pre-season games with three matches in seven days, but it’s allowed us to use many players of all levels.

“Dunstable played really well and look in good shape for their season. I was disappointed in our performance but I put out a really mixed squad resting the majority of my senior guys after a tough match against Cambridge on Wednesday.

“We begin competitive rugby next Saturday with the first round of the East Midlands Cup at home to Huntingdon this weekend.”