A chilly north easterly wind kept temperatures lower than one might have expected as a cloudless blue sky allowed the sun to shine brightly on proceedings at Northampton Road. With Lutterworth already crowned champions, second place Scouts visited third place Harborough with little to play for. There would be no jockeying for league position as Scouts were 11 points clear of Harborough. However, the large crowd were witness to a fine rugby match.

The match was ultimately decided by three defining moments, a tackle and two scintillating 'quickstep' tries . It was like watching the sorcerer and his apprentice turn up to a 'strictly come dancing audition' hosted at a scouts jamboree!!

It was Harborough who played into the gusty breeze from kick off and were on the scoreboard first after a forward assault on the Scouts try line. As forwards tumbled over the line to the left of the posts, it was Jack Burrows who emerged with the ball as Harborough's pack untangled themselves. A fine Monty Maule conversion put Harborough 7-0 ahead after 11 minutes.

Scouts were back in the game after scrum half Will Brenan slotted over a penalty 7-3.

Sam Blades, Pat Grady, 'Jeff' Brown & Henry Moss were industrious at the breakdown, whilst Williams, Ford, Brown and Staff patrolled the fringes -attacking and defending in equal measure. With a dry hard pitch both teams produced some fine running rugby. Having established good field position scrum, Staff & Lafferty played in Will Marriott, who 'waltzed' over and dotted down in the right hand corner. Harborough led 12-3. It was a classic blind side 8,9 winger's try.

Both sides ran each other ragged and like a 'breakdance' competition each team had their moments of ascendancy. Durham and Slaughter helped keep Harborough try line safe. However, in one of those periods when Scouts had the upper hand, Will Brenan slotted over a second penalty for Scouts, after a scrum offence. Half time arrived with Harborough leading 12-6.

It was the visitors who were quickest out of the blocks after half time with a delightful backs move that led to an overlap. The conversion sailed over from the touchline and Scouts led 12-13.

One third of the 'bomb squad' arrived in the shape of Jack Digby and he duly scored after two bites of the cherry. Diggers 'shuffled and stomped' to break the line. The Black Cats now had a 17- 13 advantage.
Monty Maule went down with a knee injury which looked like ending his afternoon's activity as he hobbled off the pitch.

The game had entered a scrappy phase as enforced and planned personal changes unfolded. Contestants were finding it difficult to adapt to the 'rhythm' of the game. The other components of the bomb squad, Tim Waterfield and Oli Spokes, would soon make their presence felt.

Maule prowled up and down the touchline, running off his earlier leg injury and he announced he was fit to return. Defining moment number 1: Within minutes of coming on the Harborough fly half had hit one of the Scouts backs with a ferocious tackle and it seemed to energised the home side. Defining moment number 2: Monty Maule displayed some some sublime footwork to bemuse and bedazzle Old Scouts players and spectators alike to score underneath the posts. It was a try to grace any match played this Saturday afternoon and would also have qualified as a 'cha, cha, cha' with shuffling feet and triple step footwork. Tom Claffey popped over the conversion. 24-13

A flurry of hands and improbable bounces led to confusion in the Old Scouts backline and Jack Rowlatt scored an opportunist try in the left hand corner. 29-13

It was now like Harborough had impressed the judges who upgraded their scores from '7's' to '9's'. Defining moment number 3: A fine run from Harry Slaughter led to the sorcerer's apprentice to present his version of the 'Lafferty Lambada'. Apprentice is somewhat harsh on Joe because he has emerged into a fine rugby player in his own right over the last two seasons. Many of the retired club scrum halves in the crowd were purring with delight as Joe Lafferty pirouetted, hip swerved and side stepped in from 30 metres out, to score again under the posts. Maule converted 36-13.

Old Scouts ran in a consolation try on the right after spreading the ball wide. This meant 'Craig Revel Horwood' would give a '9' for Harborough's performance and deny four perfect 10's. This was a game in which the visitors showed their own flashes of brilliance and but for a few key moments it could have gone their way. Final Score 36-18.

Thank you to all our sponsors, spectators and members for the wonderful support you have given the team this season. There's still a few more games for other teams in the club and we'll keep you posted on details of them.

Please look out for information on the club dinner on Friday 16th May, where Leicester, England & British Lions legend Julian White is our guest speaker. Ticket link should be up later this week.