Luton beat Stockwood Park to win Bedfordshire Shield Final

Luton proved just too strong for rivals Stockwood Park on Saturday as they won the Bedfordshire Shield Final with a 29-24 victory at Newlands Road on Saturday.

Going into the game, it had been a long and highly successful season for Park in which they won the Midlands Three East South title to achieve promotion.

They found their final game against Luton one step too far though as they met stern resistance from a motivated and determined opposition in what was an exciting match in front of a large crowd, both sides scoring three tries each.

Stockwood didn’t help their cause with problems in the lineout and defence, but once again they managed some excellent scores and ran with skill in open play before tiring towards the end under constant pressure from the home team.

Park quickly went 6-0 down following two Luton penalties before hitting back in some style, centre Sean Martyn and skipper Tom Childs both crossing the line, with Martyn kicking the conversions as they led 14-6.

Luton responded with their own try before an alert fly-half Brandon Lewsey took a quick tap penalty to score Park’s third try, Martyn adding the extras.

An end-to-end opening period then saw Luton cross the line on the stroke of half time to trail 21-16.

After the break, the hosts managed another converted try to make it 23-21 in their favour, as both sides exchanged penalties, but despite Stockwood’s best efforts, Luton held firm, adding a last minute penalty to secure the trophy.