Sat 27 Nov 2021
Peterborough RUFC welcomed Belgrave to Fengate on Saturday for their latest East Midlands 1 fixture which saw them come away with a 34-12 win. The game was played in a freezing gale and both teams deserve credit for putting on an entertaining game.
Boro played into the gale in the first half and Belgrave used the wind to great affect, pinning Boro on their own tryline. This pressure led to Belgrave’s first converted try but also woke the home side up. Boro kept ball in hand as any attempt to clear saw the wind blow the ball back towards Boro's own try line. Telling runs from Mooki Olebile, Robert Moulds and Johnathan Hamilton took their toll on the Belgrave defence and lead to two home tries, one to Hamilton and another to winger Aram Jones. Boro ended the first half with a 12-7 lead.
The second half saw the homeside, now with the wind in their favour, take control of the game. Further tries to Robert Jacobs, Nic Langton and Ryan Morris and 9 points from the boot of fly half Byron Van Uden sealed the win. Boro did switch off for the last 15 mins which allowed Belgrave to score an unconverted try.
My thoughts; "The first half was excellent. The forwards rolled their sleeves up and really got stuck into their work. Our scrum was excellent, and a special mention goes to loose head prop Daniel O'Connell who played 80 minutes in his first game back after a 2 year absence and made a huge impact. We did switch off for the last 15 minutes which is becoming a bit of a trend. We face a really hard away game next when we travel to Derby. If we want to win we need to keep to the game plan for 80 minutes. The top sides in the league will punish us if we don't."
