Youth Rugby round-up

Dunstablians suffered a disappointing 23-15 home defeat to Teddington in Herts & Middlesex League U18 Division Two on Sunday.

Depleted Dees were missing three regular starters, who made their first team debuts the previous day in the 40-20 friendly defeat of Biggleswade, and a couple of players to long-term injuries.

As a result other members of Dees’ 30-strong squad were given the chance to make an impression.

Playing against the wind in the first half Teddington took the lead with a 25th-minute penalty.

This sparked a reaction from Dees as centre Billy Wagstaff capitalised on an impressive backs move to score the first try of the game, although the wind-affected conversion slid just the wrong side of the posts.

Shortly after a superbly-placed kick from Jarrad Jerome wrong-footed the Teddington full-back and winger Sam Lee flew down the touchline and beat the Teddington full-back to the loose ball to touch down for a fantastic try.

The 40m touchline conversion fell just shy though, as Dees led 10-3 at oranges.

Teddington narrowed the gap with a penalty five minutes into the second half before breaking away to score as they edged ahead by a point.

Dees went missing for the next seven minutes as the visitors scored two quick converted tries, before Dunstablians shook themselves back into life with some strong defensive work and excellent forwards drives.

A quick blindside move saw winger Harry Lousley touch down the final score as Dees’ five-minute loss of concentration cost them dear.

Dees face local rivals Leighton Buzzard in their next league match.

Bedfordshire U16s triumph on their return to action

Bedfordshire U16s, sponsored by the University of Bedfordshire, started the new season with a 26-10 victory over Northants Alliance in Daventry on Wednesday.

Injuries meant Beds had a squad of just 18 as they handed debuts to four players.

Last time the pair met the game ended in a draw, but the visitors moved the ball well as full-back Charlie Stern crossed for a debut try out wide.

Strong Beds defence blunted Northants’ fightback and intelligent kicking by half-backs Cameron Fernaux and Ben Salvinski moved Beds back upfield.

Wing Harry Sawford-Smith ran 60m only to be stopped two metres out and a series of pick-and-drives by the Bedfordshire pack eventually saw Callum Cunningham cross and Fernaux convert to make it 12-0.

Northants hit back with a try from their flanker with a pick-and-drive score after a long kick downfield.

An extended spell of pressure in the second half saw the hosts score their second try to narrow the gap to 12-10.

Refocused Beds replied through Adam Jones 10 minutes later, when he intercepted and raced home from 40m at lightning speed to score with Slavinski converting.

Beds continued to press and with the last play Sawford-Smith broke again to score with Slavinski adding the extras.

East Northants play Beds at Stockwood Park’s London Road home today.

The squad is made up of players from U16 teams from Ampthill, Bedford, Dunstablians, Leighton Buzzard, Luton and Stockwood Park.

Daventry do for Park’s Poachers

Stockwood Park Poachers U16s went down to a 35-26 defeat at Daventry in the East Midlands U16 Premiership in a first-ever meeting between the teams.

Daventry absorbed Park’s pressure for the first 20 minutes, but Stockwood finally broke the deadlock when prop Phillip Ackuaku broke the line and off-loaded to Ogun Dungaz to score out wide.

The hosts replied with a penalty and added two tries through their strong pack to lead 15-5 at half time.

Daventry denied Poachers possession and space for the first 15 minutes of the second half as they surged into a 32-5 lead before Poachers finally woke up and battled back.

Kasper Franzack and Peter Kimondo scored, with Frankie Daly converting both to narrow the score to 33-19.

The home side edged themselves further ahead with a penalty, but Park kept going and scored a well deserved late try through Ackuaku, converted by Daly, to make the final score 35-26.

The win sees Daventry go third, with Poachers now second bottom.

Bright Dees impress in Harps win

Dunstablians U13s put in one of their finest performances of the season as they triumphed 31-5 in friendly at Harpenden.

Good combination play early on saw Dees move the ball to the wing for George Hand to race the line, with Liam Bright converting.

Dees continued to play at pace with Hand scoring a carbon copy and Bright adding the extras.

Great defence kept Harpenden at bay, but they hit back with an unconverted try before the interval to make it 14-5.

Fresh legs in the front row helped Dees to maintain their pressure after the break.

Amazing team play saw Dees enhance their score with two more tries by Tristan Randolph, one converted by Bright. And newcomer Owen Lara stomped over the line with the final try of the match.

Six out of seven wins for Luton U8s

Luton U8s six out of seven games as they hosted Hitchin and High Wycombe at Newlands Road.

Luton Cobras got off to a good start by beating Hitchin 30-15 with man of the match Farrell Bennett helping himself to a hat-trick, captain Callum Corley-Doyle touched down twice and Tio Bankole also scored.

Cobras then edged to a 25-20 win against High Wycombe B, Corley-Doyle grabbing a hat-trick alongside tries from Bennett and Cian Llewellyn.

They then suffered a narrow 35-30 defeat to High Wycombe A, despite a second Corley-Doyle hat-trick, Bennett brace and Bankole try.

Luton Vipers went unbeaten as they started off with a 30-25 victory over Hitchin A, skipper Toby Hunt scoring a hat-trick, Lewis Read getting a brace and Leo Lyons registering a try.

Vipers’ second game saw them beat High Wycombe A 35-25, thanks to a Read treble, a Ryan Swaine brace and tries by Charlie Roy and Sam Spary.

They then beat Hitchin B again 30-15, with braces from man of the match Shea O’Donnell and Swaine and tries from Hunt and Lyons.

The final match saw Bedfordshire champions Luton earn a 30-20 victory over Buckinghamshire champions High Wycombe in a winner-takes-all finale.

Corley-Doyle notched a hat-trick in a hard-fought contest alongside a brace from Bennett and a try from Hunt.