Stamford Rugby Club beat Long Buckby in Counties 1 Midlands East (South)

Stamford secured victory in their final game of the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) season by condemning Long Buckby to relegation on Saturday.

The purple, black and whites - who were already secured a third place finish - ran out 17-15 winners in match attended by a large crowd where the strong wind made kicking a lottery and it was very much a game of two halves.

The visitors - who needed to return home with two points to avoid relegation - had the wind and slope advantage in the first half.

They came at Stamford with everything they had and were cheered on by a good number of Long Buckby supporters.

Stamford had to defend and try to run out of defence as kicks were coming back to them in the wind.

The Northamptonshire side kept up the pressure but, when they lost possession, Mike Kendall made a solo break and, when stopped, the support arrived to carry it on and skipper Jack Jones was given a clear run in for a try which Harry Bentley converted.

Town were able to adjust their game to the conditions and were putting together some good moves, but Long Buckby were hitting back and, when awarded a penalty, they converted it to make the score 7-3.

Stamford upped the pressure and their attack took them to the Buckby line but the referee said the ball was not grounded and gave a goalline drop out to the visitors.

With the wind behind him, the kicker sent the ball sailing down the pitch. It bounced once and then pitched into touch one metre from the Stamford goalline.

The resulting line-out was stolen and Buckby drove over for a try which they converted to make the score 7-10 at half-time.

With the conditions in their favour, Stamford were able to mix up their attacking options.

A tactical kick from Bentley was followed up and moved wide to Zach Morley to score a try to move the score on to 12-10.

Stamford were moving the ball well but Long Buckby were fighting for survival and tackled and competed for everything.

A tap and drive by Stamford was stopped just short but the ball was passed out to Harry Ayton to finish in the corner for a 17-10 lead.

The visitors were now running at Stamford and their forwards were using driving mauls to gain ground but the well organised home defence was stopping them and kicking with the wind to clear.

Buckby put together one final effort and, from a scrum, were able to score a try to bring the score to 17-15.

The conversion would level the scores and give them the two match points they needed but the kick sailed wide and the game ended with a Stamford win.

It was their 18th success from 22 league outings after a successful season for Stamford who finished behind Daventry and Market Bosworth in the table.

Daventry took the title after a 62-12 win at Stockwood Park on Saturday while Bosworth beat Oakham 57-17 to leave the Rutland side at the bottom of the table.

Stamford now enter the cup stage of the season where they will be competing in the Notts Lincs and Derbys competition and the Papa John's sponsored RFU tournament.