Towcestrians faced off against Bedford Athletic saturday at Greens Norton Rd in testing conditions, with the sides at opposite ends of the table, on paper it looked like a one sided affair, however, Tows form and confidence belies there lowly league position and came at "the Ath" with all guns blazing in a first half that saw the home side dominate both possession and territory.

throughout the half Tows aggressive defence winning them numerous turnover penalties and testing the visitors defence, despite the territory advantage Tows only had a small lead at half-time, having kicked three penalties from five attempts, suffering some set piece malfunctions when in close range and failing to convert a glorious try scoring oportunity, the 9 - 0 lead, all courtesy of Tom Bills boot, was the least Tows endeavours deserved and still gave the visitors hope of turning things around.

The second half was a polar opposite of the first with Ath, to thier credit, upping the tempo and taking only four minutes to cross for the games opening try to close the gap to 9 - 5, it was Ath this time who were more aggressive at the breakdown and winning penalties and as Tows pack tired upfront and dominance in the set piece taken by the visitors, Ath scored again on 55 minutes to take the lead and extended with tries on 65 minutes and a bonus point score with seven minutes to go.

Despite the turnaround Tows can take a lot of confidence and positives from this game, having been the better team for 40 minutes, and pushing the league leaders hard in a great game of rugby. A number of standout performances from Tows, led by Man of the Match Liam Wilkinson at 6.

Tows 1s and 2s travel to Derby this Saturday to start the reverse fixtures of the season.

Elsewhere Tows 2nd XV lost 10 - 24 to Bedford Ath 2's and Tows 3rds travelled away to play the Northampton Outlaws securing a 10 - 0 win, Richard Tustian on the scoresheet for "the ultimates"