Boston 7 Daventry 27

Boston went out of the Midlands Cup in this physical and often bad tempered clash at the Princess Royal Sports Arena on Saturday.

Bone crunching tackles were plentiful in this fierce contest and there was an under current of tension between the teams throughout the 80 minutes.

At times the frustrations boiled over and in one such incident Boston's number eight Kenny Doig and his counterpart from Daventry were both shown the yellow card and forced to take a 10-minute cooling off break.

The young Boston side can take heart from a battling performance but there was never any real doubt that the visitors would be the team progressing into the next round.

Boston began sluggishly – once again disrupted by work commitments that meant skipper Marc Miles could not make it for kick-off time.

Indeed during the opening 40 minutes the Blue and Whites failed to make a meaningful attack as they played into a strong wind against a Daventry side who could sense that early points were on offer.

A tally of 19 points before the break began when the visitors spread the ball across the pitch in a sweet passing movement that saw the winger go over in the corner. The conversion was added.

Boston were under severe pressure now and struggling to win any ball and it came as no surprise when Daventry added two more tries and one conversion before the half-time whistle came as a welcome relief for the Blue and Whites.

With the wind at their backs, Boston looked a different team and when Tom Brooks kicked through and winger Matthew Dean won the race to the line to dive over and score, the home side were briefly back in the game.

Brooks produced an excellent kick to score the conversion and suddenly it was game on.

Boston battled hard but Daventry were in no mood to surrender further points and as the game moved towards its conclusion victory was secured by a further try and a penalty which took the outcome beyond doubt.

When Boston look for positives from the game they will surely point to the introduction of newcomers Gareth Virgo and Marumo Bodibe who came on as replacements and will be vying for a place in the side which returns to league action on Saturday at home to Worksop.

The Development Squad are away to Gainsborough.

Boston: I. Sampson, C Dowse, A Kemp, J Pedley, M Hoyes, J. Stokes , K. Doig, W Sutcliffe, P Cumber, T Brooks, J Brooks, M Mitchell, M Dean, L. Smith, J. Pain. Replacements: R. Linnell, M. Miles, G. Virgo, M. Bodibe.