BINGHAM'S season came to a close with a typically hard-fought tussle between the Under and Over 35s.
This year, due to fixture congestion the match doubled up as the Bingham Memorial game, played in memory of all past Bingham players, in particular founder member Bill Stone.
The game was a lot closer than the scoreline suggests but the determined defence of the Youth Team gave them a comfortable 26-0 victory.
The Youth team started strongly, winning good line-out ball and quickly put their experienced opponents under pressure.
Scrum half Ed Ranns scored the opening try as he burst from behind an Unders maul a couple of yards out. Hooker, Billy Singleton converted.
The veterans had hardly caught their breath when they found themselves watching Singleton slotting a second conversion. Overs Jon Nichols attempted to clear a kick ahead to touch with his boot, but completely missed the ball.
Fly half, Andy Delahunty, collected the loose ball and flopped over the line for the try. Ben Braund having had to drop back to the unfamiliar position of full back, added N0.3 for the Youth XV when he proved too strong in the tackle for his counterpart Garry Heard.
Heard made a clean break slicing through the Unders midfield, but winger Neil Willetts couldn't hold the pass.
Overs centre, James Kelsey, was next to go close. He paid the price for not diving, as he was held up over the line and bundled into touch.
A strong rolling maul from the Veteran forwards again saw them cross the Unders whitewash, but they couldn't get the ball to ground and their frustrations were compounded shortly after when Singleton finished a move under the posts and converted to give the Unders a 26-0 half time lead.
The second half began with the Overs forwards upping their efforts and taking control of scrummage possession. The front row of Andy McCrea, Rhuari Pike and Phil Ramage had too much muscle for the Youth team.
But, while the Overs had more of the ball the luck still didn't go their way. A break by their midfield backs found Willetts in space. He drew the covering players and found No.8 Andy Lewis rampaging up in support.
Flanker Keith Lowthian, managed to make a despairing tackle and it proved enough as the ball was spilled forward.
Veterans second row Richard Hardy had a strong game and looked to have scored when he drove over from a ruck, but the referee had seen a knock forward.
A series of five-yard scrums gave the Overs further opportunities. But, when Nichols failed to gather a scoring pass at thecorner, the pressure was released.
Delahunty knocked on over the try line when the Vets' defence failed to deal with his high kick, Tom Onions scorched around the backline and cut inside only to be brilliantly tackled by replacement centre Nigel Davies, who had been beaten by Onions earlier in his run.
Some benevolent refereeing gave the Vets a suspiciously large amount of possession in the dying minutes, but they still couldn't breach the Youth defence.
Club president Bob Buchanan congratulated both sides on a good game of rugby. Referee, Andy Erridge, kept a firm grip, while recognising the spirit of the fixture and allowed it to flow.
The same spirit was epitomised by the oldest player on the park, winger John Gillies, who played the full 80 minutes.
YOUTH: Dan Bartram, Billy Singleton, Ricardo Bartley, Chris Bell, Jim Singer, Nicolas Tomba, Keith Lowthian, Jason Churchill, Ed Ranns, Andy Delahunty, Ben Braund, Gareth Bartsch, Mark Brenton (Jeff Ramage), Mike Fuller (Chris Goodchild), Jon Thomas (Tom Onions)
Scorers: Tries: Ranns, Delahunty, Braund, Singleton Conversions: Singleton (3)
VETS: Phil Ramage, Rhuari Pike, Andy McCrea, Richard Hardy, lan Coughtrey, Graham Mason, Rob Gregg, Andy Lewis, Chris Packer (Nigel Davies), Jon Nichols, John Gillies, James Kelsey, Andy Towers, Neil Willetts, Garry Heard (lan Paling).
