Peterborough 10 – 7 Newmarket

Much of the first half of this match was played in the middle third of the pitch as both teams struggled to dominate. The weight of Peterborough's pack was matched by the determination of the Newmarket forwards, with their captain, Jack Watson, leading by example to receive the man of the match award. Neither side was able to make good use of the ball and any opportunities that came to the backs were quickly snuffed out by their opposite numbers. It was no surprise that the game was scoreless at the break, though Newmarket were hampered by an injury to scrum-half Lewis Heap that ruled him out of the remainder of the match.

Newmarket started brightly in the second half and penned Peterborough near their own try line. With secure ball coming from the scrums, winger Iain Moffat was within metres of touching down on two occasions following charging runs by Joe Stafford and Nathan Buckle. The other Newmarket backs were equally committed with both Gwilym Davies and Tom Locke forcing turnovers in the tackle. However, failure to convert pressure into points cost Newmarket dear as Peterborough regained the ball near the halfway line and against the run of play their speedy outside centre sprinted clear for an unconverted breakaway try.

Newmarket responded strongly. Despite struggling with an injury, hooker Dan Downing and the props Tom Wills and Oliver Sanusi-Bartlett continued to secure loose ball that took them close to the home team's line. Peterborough did well to keep out a charge from Dan Bristow well-supported by Ben Jeacock and Ethan Brown, but as players were sucked in the ball came out to Buckle who straightened the line and laid it back for Stafford to crash over under the posts and notch up a two point lead.

It remained that way until the last play of the match. Facing a borrowed stand-in scrum half the Peterborough forwards were able to steal ball tapped back from the lineout. Twice they crossed the try line only to be held up by last-ditch Newmarket defence. On the second occasion the home side were awarded a penalty and this time Newmarket were unable to prevent the No. 13 from wriggling through for his second try and a narrow Peterborough victory.