Paviors 32 Dunstablians 21

Third-place Paviors proved too strong for Dunstablians as they lost 32-21 in Midlands One East on Saturday.

The visitors, who endured a tough afternoon, played with both passion and discipline, but were not clinical enough and failed to play at a high enough tempo throughout.

Captain Joe Murphy said: "Paviors are a very good team this season, but we outplayed them in the second half.

"We need to be able to do that for the whole 80 minutes if we are going to beat teams of this calibre.

"However, we have taken yet another step forward this week, some of our play was the best we have played all season so we have taken positives from this loss and we will put it into our next game, which is another tough test against league leaders Scunthorpe."

Dees started brightly on a gloomy and wet day in Nottingham when Gerhard Swart left Paviors' full-back stranded as he scored under the posts.

Paviors quickly replied with a penalty and a well-worked try of their own to go 8-5 ahead after Dees' pack were twice penalised at the scrum for going in early.

The home side added three more points before a good turnover from Haydn Annand and Ashley Warren led to Joe Murphy adding three points of his own.

Paviors then took control, scoring in the corner after a chip ahead, and adding another score out wide following a missed tackle.

Dees improved after the break and started to stamp their authority on the game, with their forwards, notably Scott Oliver, making constant inroads into the Paviors defence.

With the home side struggling, Joe Murphy kicked two penalties before Paviors responded with a dubious penalty of their own against the run of play.

A costly turnover then left Campbell Haig exposed at the back, and Paviors touched down under the posts to all but secure victory.

Dunstablians, though, refused to give up and some good work from their pack was rewarded with a penalty.

A quick tap from Ben Murphy got Dees moving and George Jenkins provided Scott Warren with the pass to finish next to Paviors' posts, Joe Murphy adding the extras.

Dees: 1 George Jenkins, 2 Ben Murphy, 3 Simon George, 4 James Noel, 5 Kelvin Frost, 6 James Alger, 7 Ashley Warren, 8 Scott Oliver, 9 Stuart Hall, 10 Gerhard Swart, 11 Kevin Boland, 12 Haydn Annand, 13 Stuart Webb; 14 Scott Warren, 15 Joe Murphy. Substitutes: 16 Paul Trew, 17 Duncan Jones, 18 Campbell Haig.