Bedford Athletic 12 DK 19

DK gained a last gasp win at Bedford Athletic courtesy of an Ian Langford try to move within touching distance of league leaders Luton.

DK's tremendous win at Putnoe Woods against their old rivals Ath was tempered by the loss of their influential skipper Pete Knight who suffered a dislocation of his right patella (kneecap) after falling awkwardly midway through the second half. Eddie Smith made a welcome return at fly half for DK and was the only change to the starting XV that beat Broadstreet a fortnight ago. The bench comprised of Al Francis, Richard Port and new signing James Shandland a former winger for Orrell and New Brighton. In another first class team performance there were several outstanding performances.

DK made a terrible start to the rearranged fixture and fell 7-0 behind after only two minutes when Ath's fly half Ashley Tapper kick eluded both DK centres and was pounced upon by winger Simon Elphick to touch down for a converted try.

DK immediately applied heavy pressure and camped in the home half for 15 minutes.

Several lineout catch and drives were well defended by Ath but after another one on 20 minutes, DK drove up to the Ath line before releasing quick ball straight down the three-quarter line to Ian Gowland who squeezed in at the corner for an excellent unconverted try to make it 7-5.

The home side struck back immediately with a good try of their own after an Ath rolling maul then released quick ball down the line to fullback Jamie Elphick entering the line at pace to outflank the DK cover before touching down. Tapper's attempted conversion hit the post to leave Ath 12-5 up.

DK began the second half with a bang with Gareth Davies surging past several defenders to score.

Andy McLellan converted and DK were level at 12-12 after 44 minutes. At this stage DK were in complete control but the visitors were badly disrupted after 54 minutes with a serious knee injury to their skipper Pete Knight that saw him stretchered off to hospital.

Despite the loss of such an influential figure, DK continued to press. Ian Langford replaced Knight at No 8 and Richard Port came off the bench to play at blindside flanker and it worked pretty well.

With time running out the drama was still not over, DK put a strong rolling maul together in the 6th minute of injury time and looked odds on to score before Ath hooker Swanwick pulled down the maul. He was yellow carded for his efforts and DK opted for the scrum from the resultant penalty. They drove the seven man Ath pack back over their own line and No 8 Ian Langford picked up to dive over for the winning try. Andy McLellan converted for 12-19 and a minute or so later gleefully booted the ball into touch at end the game.

Line-up: McLellan, N Francis, Fletcher, Gareth Davies, Gowland, Smith, Mitchell, Chesham, Blackford, Fallon, Griffiths, Connett, Langford, Bullock, Knight (Capt).

Replacements: A Francis, Port, Shandland