March Bears remain clear at the top of the table after home draw with Saffron Walden
March Bears maintained their undefeated record but almost snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by giving away three intercepted tries in a 31-31 draw with Saffron Walden.
Saffron Walden had obviously come with a game plan and it worked a treat with a fast rush defence which March never adjusted to, although the boot of Sam Howat came to the rescue by hitting four terrific penalty kicks.
Despite the minor setback, March Bears remain 23 points clear at the top of the table and don’t need many more wins to wrap up the league title.
March had been unsettled from the start and made more basic errors than probably seen in the rest of the season as Saffron Walden ran in the opening try.
They responded as captain Billy Dean went over for a try and Howat kicked the extras before adding a penalty from long range shortly after.
Another booming Howat penalty went over and just before the break a fabulous backs move split the Saffron Walden defence and Callum Campbell added a try which Howat converted
With a 20-7 lead at the interval, it looked like yet another Saturday win was on the way for the Bears.
Howat added a further penalty at the start of the second half but then Saffron Walden went over for an unconverted try.
A further Bears penalty and a try from Adam Munro gave the home side what appeared to be an unassailable lead at 31-12.
But Saffron Walden had other ideas and three late converted tries levelled the scores at Elm Road.