Wells Bombardier Senior Cup

Kettering 27 Dunstablians 9
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‘Blues stun Dunstablians’

Kettering stormed into the final of the Wells Bombardier Senior Cup with an outstanding second half performance, full of passion and commitment, scoring 24 unanswered points that turned a 9-3 half-time deficit into a 27-9 victory.

Early pressure from the home side, resulted in a Tim Jones penalty after just 3 minutes, but Dunstablians soon responded with a penalty of their own, when somehow serious foul play by the visiting scrum half went unpunished and the decision went the way of the Bedfordshire side.

The game was proving to be a real physical encounter, and it was clear that Dunstable were not too particular about their use of both boot and fists, and on 25 minutes their full back was somehow only sin binned, for a punch on Nathan Satala, which eventually saw the Kettering centre have to leave the field.

Despite their indiscretions, it was Dunstable who benefited from the penalties being given, and they added 2 more before the break to give them the half-time lead.

With conditions now in their favour, Kettering began the second half in determined mood. The forwards began to take control, and from a lineout just inside the Dunstable 22, set up a catch and drive, and proceeded to march the visitors all the way over their line for a try, which appeared to be finished off by Rory Keir. Jones converted to give the home side the lead.

Shortly after this, and as the pressure began to mount on the visiting defence, the Dunstable number 5 was red carded for yet another piece of foul play, and the game was beginning to slip away from the Midlands 1 side.

As the tie moved into the latter stages, another drive from the forwards, saw replacement scrum half, Darren Etheridge, in his first game for some time, show great strength and commitment to power over from close range for the decisive try, which Jones again converted.

The Blues were now totally dominant, and should probably have scored again, when firstly a storming run down the right wing by Kev Osborne set up a great chance for a try, but the final pass went astray, and then winger Paul Sumner failed to hold on to a difficult pass, which would have seen him scoring in the corner. The home side, however, were not to be denied, and once again it was the forwards who created the scoring opportunity, this time from a 5-metre scrum. With the visitors desperately trying to prevent a score, the referee decided their efforts were illegal and awarded a penalty try, which Jones converted to round off a great day for the Kettering side, which not only avenged their Intermediate Cup defeat at the hands of Dunstablians, but also takes them through to the final, at Bedford Blues Goldington Road ground on April 6th, where they will meet another Midlands 1 side, Bedford Athletic, who disposed of Old Scouts in the other semi-final.

WELLINGBOROUGH “VETS” 17 - KETTERING VETS 5

Kettering Vets found the pace of the game a little too hot to handle, as they came up against a very young Wellingborough side who, at times, ran their more senior opponents ragged. Despite this, the Blues kept themselves in the game right until the end, but they were finally outdone, and only had a Neil Price try to show for their efforts.

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