Luctonians'hopes end with home defeat

LUCTONIANS' title and promotion hopes were all but ended by a home defeat to Scunthorpe - a side they pipped by one point away - in Power-gen Midlands 1.

It left the North Herefordshire club 10 points adrift of leaders Bedford Athletic with only five games remaining and four behind Kettering, who have two games in hand in second place.

Northern visitors provide Luctonians with testing afternoons and Scun-thorpe added a touch of northern nemises too, putting together perhaps the most controlled 80 minutes of league rugby seen at Mortimer Park for a few seasons.

Luctonians did snatch a last-minute try to reduce Scunthorpe's lead but the visitors' victory made ample amends for their defeat in early October, the last time Luctonians won a league match on the road.

Scunthorpe opened the scoring in the ninth minute when right-wing Mark Sherwood was given a half-chance 40 metres out. He ran hard for his try but was helped by some indifferent tackling and the visitors had set out their stall.

For the rest of the match the Scunthorpe backs attacked at every opportunity, running hard and straight and defending with equal conviction.

Luctonians full-back Jeremy Wheadon pulled back three points with a penalty but the Scunthorpe backs continued to pose problems and fly-half Ben Sherwood dropped a goal to increase his side's lead.

Luctonians hit back late in the half, however, when centre Roger Chilman threaded his way through and popped up a perfectly -weighted pass for left-wing Andy Garrod to run on to and cross under the posts. The Wheadon conversion allowed Lucton-ians a 10-8 interval lead.

But Scunthorpe changed their focus of attack at the restart with their pack taking the game to Luctonians. The home team withstood a period of sustained pressure and defended stoutly but at the expense of a yellow card for flanker Ben Moss.

The visitors took full advantage of a depleted pack and, before Moss had returned, scored another two tries with flanker Heath-Drury nipping over from a short penalty and lock Richard Southee driving over from a catch and drive at a lineout.

Close marking and a tendency to lose possession prevented Luctonians from establishing a rhythm and when they lost their own ball at a defensive lineout they were punished again. Scunthorpe centre Nick Coult, whose physical presence had been a constant threat, blasted his way through for the visitors' final try.

Another Sherwood conversion and the visitors were very much in control.

Luctonians did hit back with a fine last-minute try from flanker Jabs Greasley who, with number eight Darren Brick, had been the pick of the pack. With an overlap on the right, Greasley elected to go it alone, beating the cover and handing off full-back Tom Foster for good measure. Wheadon added the extra points as the final whistle blew.