Stamford College Old Boys RFC hosted Aylestone Athletic RFC at Stamford Welland Academy this past weekend, with both teams putting in determined performances in a tightly contested affair. The final result was 24-20 in favor of the Old Boys, who managed to edge out their opponents in the final quarter of the match.

The Old Boys looked to start brightly, quickly working their way deep into the Aylestone half, and demonstrating their strong attacking intent. However, a loose ball was scooped up by the Aylestone winger, who darted down the pitch, putting The Ath in position to attack.

Aylestone started that attack brightly, utilizing their forwards to apply pressure early on. After several phases around the breakdown, they crossed the try line for the first score of the match. The conversion attempt was unsuccessful, but the away-side established an early 0-5 lead.

The College began to settle into the game, and despite strong attacking efforts from Aylestone Athletic, they were unable to cross the line to score more points. That was until they looked to keep the scoreboard ticking and extended their lead when their fly-half kicked a drop goal to extend their lead to 0-8.

But the Old Boys responded well to the pressure and finally got a breakthrough when Alex Walker made a surging run from 20 meters out, weaving around the defensive line, to score a crucial try. As usual, Carl Brierley-Lewis kicked the conversion which brought the game back to within one point at 7-8.

It was Aylestone Athletic who struck next, scoring again out wide after a sweeping backline move. With the conversion missed once more, they led 7-13 going into halftime.

The second half began with Aylestone missing a penalty, a reprieve that the Old Boys capitalized on. Stamford slotted a penalty of their own to narrow the gap to 10-13, building momentum as they pushed for more points. Aylestone once again had the chance to stretch their lead but missed another penalty attempt.

It was then that the Old Boys turned the game on its head. Off the back of a lineout, Jimmy Twose burst through the Aylestone defensive line to score a superb try, which was duly converted to give Stamford a 17-13 lead - the College's first time in front of the afternoon.

But it didn't last long, as Aylestone was next to hit back, exploiting an overlap to score in the corner. The tricky kick was converted, and The Ath regained the lead at 17-20.

With the game hanging in the balance and less than ten minutes to play, the Old Boys showed grit and persistence to keep themselves in the game. Eventually, it saw Callum Fraser take a quick tap penalty, catching Aylestone off guard, and stormed over the line for the match-winning try. The conversion was good, taking the score to 24-20.

A scrappy couple of minutes followed, as a trio of early Old Boys injuries meant there were no substitutes left to replace tired bodies while Aylestone were operating with fresh legs. Aylestone worked hard to build phases and work their way down the pitch, and just as they looked to break down the wing, a huge tackle from winger Harry Bell saw the ball go dead and the game conclude. The Old Boys won 24-20.

Next weekend the Old Boys travel to unbeaten league leaders Leighton Buzzard in league action.