Disappointment for Dees as they suffer final defeat

Dunstablians suffered disappointment in their bid to win the RFU Midlands Senior Vase on Saturday, beaten 26-15 in the final by Spalding at Bidwell Park.

Following a guard of honour for both teams by the Dunstablians U12s squad, Des started brightly.

Without their normal scrum superiority, they were still able to get points on the board after three minutes with a penalty from full back Zach Bourne following successive infringements at the ruck, which would become a regular occurrence during the match.

Possession was shared by both sides, but Dees were dealt a huge blow on 13 minutes when key line-out jumper Harry Smith was shown a red card for deliberate obstruction.

Having held out for 10 minutes with 14 men, Dunstablians were soon behind to a well-worked try to Spalding immediately after being back to 15.

Lacking their usual fluidity Dees were now under pressure to get back in the game.

Unfortunately opportunities to add to their score through Spalding being penalised at the breakdown, were not taken as two penalty kicks were missed before Spalding made them pay with a converted try.

The final scoring opportunity of the half belonged to Dees with more breakdown infringements by Spalding resulting in the referee threatening a yellow card rather than issuing one, which would be warranted, but the penalty was once again off target.

Changing ends 12-3 behind and now playing with the wind, Dees still couldn’t find their usual rhythm, under pressure from a buoyed Spalding.

They grabbed another try inside five minutes, leaving Dunstablians with a mountain to climb, requiring three converted scores.

The Spalding No8 was controlling the game for his side, even with a retreating scrum, until Dees were able to score their first try of the match through second row Matt Knight, converted by Bourne.

However, almost immediately Spalding responded with a converted try of their own to leave Dees trailing by 16 points and the match now in its final quarter.

Despite gaining a lot of possession, Dees were unable to breach the Spalding defence until the final 10 minutes through scrum half Mikey Morris.

The final five minutes saw no further scoring as Dees were defeated, but the squad should be proud of reaching their first regional final in over 10 years.