Bourne Rugby Club beat Vipers in Counties 1 Midlands East (South)

Bourne moved up another place in the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) table after a nail biting victory at Vipers on Saturday.

They secured a 20-21 away win from their trip to Leicester to take fifth spot in the standings and go within a point of their defeated hosts.

Vipers had taken the early initiative and made Bourne pay for their ill-discipline as they kicked two penalties to make it 6-0 after the first 10 minutes.

Bourne did fire back, however, through a penalty from captain Sam Evison to reduce the deficit to three points.

An attritional match was spectated by the large crowd for the next 20 minutes with neither side able to add to their score.

Vipers broke that deadlock with half-time approaching, capitalising on a loose ball in the midfield and scoring in the corner.

Soon afterwards, Bourne had a try of their own to take into the interval.

Some slick handling by the backline unleashed prolific winger Jon Levett who beat two would-be tacklers to score out wide. A second Evison penalty and a third for Vipers then took the score to 14-11 at the break.

The home side kicked another penalty in the early exchanges of the second half before once again the sides were arm wrestling for possession.

Bourne's forwards began to dictate proceedings and momentum began to swing in the direction of the away side.

The visitors were eventually rewarded for the immense pressure they were putting the Vipers defence under as flanker Sam Thornburn dotted down in the corner. Evison converted to put his side into the lead for the first time at 17-18.

Evison then added another penalty to give Bourne a four-point cushion.

The final exchanges would have made for a classic for a neutral fan, however, the home side and the travelling faithful could hardly bear to watch.

Vipers kicked a penalty to drag themselves within a single point, but Bourne were able to hang on to their lead and erupted with pure elation when the ball was booted off the field and the final whistle blown.

After a tough start to the season, Bourne are now up to fifth with the potential to move higher with a win at Bugbrooke on Saturday and other results going in their favour.

Captain Evison, who received the player of the match award, said: "We have been on the wrong side of a few close games this year so to finally get on the right side is a massive confidence boost.

"We are still slightly behind where we had our sights set at the beginning of the season, but there is still a long way to go and things are moving in the right direction."

After Saturday's trip to Bugbrooke, Bourne's final game before the festive break is at home to Daventry on Saturday, December 16.