LUCTONIANS Under-19s rose to the occasion to beat hot favourites Moseley 10-7 in the final of the North Midlands Cup at Wassell Grove last Sunday.

Moseley had beaten Lucs 45-12 in the league in March but the Kingsland-based side showed great self-belief to turn the tables and finish a memorable season on a high. It was their first win in four appearances in the final.

Moseley opened the scoring on 15 minutes when they drove over for a converted try and Luctonians found themselves under severe pressure at both the scrums and line-outs due to the size and organisation of the opposition pack.

But they possessed a game plan to attack out wide and within ten minutes Tom Powell had replied with a searing break to score in the corner, Jacob Stokes adding the extras from the touchline to level the scores.

Powell nearly scored

again five minutes later when he was hauled down just short of the line by an excellent tackle but with half-time approaching Moseley launched a major offensive on the Luctonians line. Time and again they drove forward but time and again Lucs knocked them down with some heroic defending.

In the second half

Stokes kicked a penalty to edge Lucs 10-7 ahead and they then dominated, showing a spirit that Moseley couldn’t match, and with John Kelly and Tom Powell both doing some sterling work as the Birmingham side tried in vain to change their forward-orientated game that has seen them dominate the league this season.

With victory in sight Lucs were forced to defend a series of scrums on their own line in the dying minutes and it was fitting that man of the match Alisdair Knight had managed to secure the ball as his pack retreated when the referee blew the full-time whistle.