MATCH REPORT: CENTAURS EDGED OUT BY SINGLE POINT

RAMS Centaurs had to settle for two bonus-points as they suffered an agonising 25-24 home Counties One Tribute Southern North defeat to Buckingham.

In their final game of the year, the Mighty Cents made a dream start as full-back Ollie Cullum crossed for a third-minute try added to by co-captain Jack Gaylor.

Buckingham got back in the contest as No. 8 Max Boothby picked off the base of a close-range scrum to cross the whitewash, only for the hosts to consolidate their advantage with two more scores.

Firstly they kicked to the corner, young scrum-half Ollie Hodgson able to spot a gap in the visitors’ defence to grab his side’s second, and things got even better with another close-range score, prop Brad Killick this time the beneficiary.

Gaylor doubled his tally from the tee to extend the advantage to 19-5, but Buckingham struck back with another move started from the base of the set-piece, the backs then getting to work before centre Charlie Fellingham wriggled under the posts for a converted try.

Scrum-half Tom Gurney landed a penalty to reduce the visitors’ deficit to four points at the break, and they would hit the front time after the interval.

Centaurs initially did well to hold a strong attack up across the line, but the resultant drop-out was collected by Archie Underwood before the wing beat a couple of would-be defenders before going up the touchline for 20-19.

Buckingham’s Matt Lester was sin-binned, but the away side made light of their numerical disadvantage to continue the comeback when a charge-down ended with Seth Williams sealing the try bonus-point.

Yet Centaurs refused to yield and hauled themselves back into the contest as the long-serving Matt Rose, playing on the blind-side flank, grabbed a bonus-point for the hosts with their fourth try of an increasingly captivating contest.

His side continued to bang away at the door in the final 10 minutes, but with two penalties unable to bisect the uprights, they fell to a heart-breaking one-point reverse.

There were once again plenty of positives from the hosts’ performance, however, and their two-point haul nudges them further clear of the bottom two.

The Mighty Cents return to action following the New Year break with a derby showdown against Chinnor Wildboys at Old Bath Road on Saturday, January 6.