Stamford College Old Boys are beaten by Luton Rugby Club

Stamford College Old Boys secured a losing bonus point after being beaten 24-31 by a strong Luton side on Saturday.

The visitors had been relegated to Counties 3 Midlands East (South) following a significant points deduction last season.

And it was clear that they intended to bounce right back up after a 73-17 victory over South Leicester last weekend.

Luton won the coin toss at Welland Academy on Saturday and opted to kick off to begin the match.

College ran two phases through Callum Fraser and Sam Duncan before fly-half Liam Greenslade opted for territory, putting his boot through the ball and giving Luton a lineout on the halfway line.

The following five minutes were messy and unstructured as Luton demonstrated their desire for fluid rugby but early jitters led to knock-ons scrums.

It quickly became apparent that Old Boys were in for a tough afternoon at scrum time – a shock after they were dominant in Northampton last weekend.

Luton's number eight picked and went from the base of a scrum before offloading to his inside-centre who danced through the College defence to score to the right of the posts. It was converted and Luton led 0-7.

After clearing their lines at kick-off, Old Boys collected their own kick and began to build some phases of their own in Luton's half.

Storming runs from James Green and Russ Polson moved the College deeper into Luton territory until they were awarded a penalty at the breakdown.

To keep the scoreboard ticking, Old Boys opted for three points and Carl Brierley-Lewis stepped up coolly and successfully closed the gap to 3-7.

Luton were next to score as their strong backline played with flair and physicality, capitalising on every Old Boys error to gain vital metres.

After five minutes camped on the College try line, whose defence was holding strong, Luton's scrum half identified a gap and dived through it to score. The conversion was good as the visitors extended their lead to 3-12.

Despite Luton's efforts to force an open but messy match, the Old Boys stuck to their attacking structure which ground down the visiting defence.

Eventually, Tiago Rodrigues collected the ball in a seven-metre lineout and looked to set a maul, which was successfully pulled down by Luton.

Jimmy Twose recognised his opportunity and darted down the blindside, past a pile of bodies, to score in the corner. The kick was missed but the gap closed to 8-12.

Minutes later, after Dom Hearne received a yellow card for a late tackle, Luton took another quick tap penalty to catch the Old Boys offside.

The away side's fly half threw an audacious dummy pass to create a gap in the scrambling College defence and went in to score. The kick hit the posts as Luton extended their lead to 8-17.

The Old Boys continued to look to build phases and demonstrate their tight attacking structure, earning them important field positions, which they successfully converted into points.

Another breakdown penalty saw Brierley-Lewis kick another three points and the gap closed to 11-17.

The remainder of the half saw the Old Boys absorb continued pressure from the strong Luton attack which eventually resulted in the visitors opting to kick for posts from a scrum penalty. It was missed and the first half finished with Luton leading 11-17.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair as neither side was able to convert pressure into points as defences held strong.

That was until Luton dropped the ball deep in their own half which Hearne was quick to capitalise on, dropping on it to score under the posts – making up for his earlier yellow. Brierley-Lewis converted again and, for the first time, the Old Boys led 18-17.

Both sides continued to put in strong attacking and even stronger defensive performances, meaning much of the second half remained scoreless.

The Old Boys opted to kick another three points for another breakdown penalty, extending their score to 21-17.

In the closing ten minutes, Luton exploited tired College bodies to score two more, both of which they converted, to re-establish their lead at 21-31 – an unfair reflection of the match.

Determined to take something from the afternoon, the Old Boys continued their work deep into the 80th minute until Luton were penalised for being offside.

Brierley-Lewis once again stepped up to kick the points and the match finished 24-31, meaning the College took a vital losing bonus point from the afternoon.

Despite the disappointment of not having won, Old Boys are building confidence after taking league points from two of the league's top sides. They will look to build on this on Saturday as they travel to Rugby Welsh.