Dinosaurs vs Peterborough 3rds 17.10.15

The Dinosaurs warmed up with 22 players but unfortunately 2 of them succumbed to injuries sustained in the match the previous week they had hoped to overcome – it ain’t easy getting old! Peterborough 3rds turned up with only 10 men and the Dinosaurs, perhaps over generously leant them all 5 of their remaining replacements. Boro started much the faster of the two and broke through for an early try with the kind of pace that any veterans will find hard to counter. A second try from a speedy young winger doubled their advantage. The first scrum was fairly even but in the second the greater strength and experience of the Dinosaurs was evident and despite Boro having the heavier front row they were rolled right over. The Boro captain appealed to the ref that it would be unsafe for the Dinos to continue to have this kind of advantage and he agreed – in the face of Deeping protests to go to uncontested scrums and even awarded the reset scrum to Boro! The classic battle of strong experienced vets against speedy youngsters was lost and any advantage the Dinos might have had went with it. Boro scored another try at the end of the second half and were firmly in the driving seat. Battling tries from Chris Towers and Andy France and a conversion from Alun Joyce brought the Dinos back into the contest but Boro struck back with a try from one of their loan players – it was a great break down the wing from Charlie Bell that was duly punished in court!

Overall, apart from a couple of Boro players whose speed and power it was hard to cope with it was a pretty even and well contested game which belies the 22-12 scoreline. Ali Reid played his debut senior game for the Dinosaurs and stood up well to a string of heavy tackles, deservedly winning the man of the match award. There were numerous injuries on both sides and the Dinos will be looking forward to a three week break before their next fixture.