Longlevens RFC

Longlevens were left ruing missed opportunities and costly lapses as they were edged out 37–34 by Old Cents in a ten-try thriller at Longford Lane.

The Griffins had the better of the opening half and will be frustrated not to have built a more commanding lead. Two unconverted tries and a penalty gave Longlevens a 13–10 advantage at the break, but the dominance they enjoyed in territory and possession deserved more.

Man of the Match James Butler opened the scoring with a moment of individual quality, dummied his way through the Cents defence to touch down. Piers Fortey added a second with a snipe from the base of a ruck, while Butler also slotted a penalty. Old Cents stayed in touch through a converted try and a penalty, leaving the contest finely balanced at half-time.

The second half became a seesaw battle, with neither side able to wrestle control for long. Cents struck first after the restart, but Longlevens responded in style when Alfie Turner finished off a flowing move following a line-breaking run from Tom Barton to restore the lead at 20–15.

Another Cents penalty narrowed the gap before Butler crossed for his second try of the afternoon to make it 27–18, putting the Griffins in a position where game management should have seen them home. However, a recurring failure to deal with kick-off receipts proved costly. Two such errors handed Old Cents field position and momentum, and they capitalised ruthlessly with two tries in quick succession to turn the scoreline around to 30–27.

With four minutes remaining, Longlevens looked to have snatched victory when captain Josh Stratton crashed over to make it 34–30. But once again the restart proved their undoing. Unable to secure possession, the Griffins allowed Cents one final opportunity, and their prop powered over at the death to seal a dramatic 37–34 win.

It was a hugely disappointing outcome for Longlevens, who will know they should have won the game. Despite moments of quality, an abject overall performance and a failure to control key moments ultimately cost the Griffins dearly.