The Mighty Oaks suffered a surprise defeat this weekend away against Northampton Casuals.

Following a 19 - 17 win against Market Bosworth at home on Saturday 4 March, Oakham were hoping that their success would continue this weekend against Northampton Casuals.

At 9th in the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) league table, Oakham defeated Market Bosworth, who were sitting at 3 in the league, last weekend, which left the team feeling strong.

While this win also saved Oakham from relegation and, it appears, gave ORFC a chance to relax - something that Northampton Casuals certainly took advantage of this weekend.

Sitting at 11th in the league, and Oakham now in 8th, it should have been an easy win for Oakham, with the half time score seeing Oakham take the lead with 12 points to Northampton's 7.

However, the final score was 26 - 23 to Northampton.

Frustratingly for Oakham, the boys had dominated for the majority of the game and only conceded with 5 minutes remaining, and by only 2 points.

Northampton Casuals had it all to fight for though, as a win for them this weekend would lower their risk of relegation substantially - as such, the victorious team had a fire in their bellies that Oakham simply could not match.

Playing for ORFC was: 

Backs

15 - William Andrews 

14 - Connor Reid 

13 - Henry Bird 

12 - Johno Milnes - VC 

11 - Ben Shepherd 

10 - David (Nobby) Styles 

9 - AJ Andrews 

Forwards

1 - Pete Rawlinson 

2 - Lewis Crellin 

3 - Reuben Styles 

4 - Will Bell - Capt 

5 - Sam Weatherall

6 - Matthew Lammin

7 - Josh Tooley 

8 - Conor Stewart 

Bench

16 - Nick Houghton 

17 - Martyn Stimson

18 - Nathan Gardener

However, Oakham's second team saw more success, winning their match 24 - 19 against Jimmy's.

Oakham have a rest weekend on Saturday 18 March, which coincides with the Six Nations Super Saturday, in which all three games will take place on the same day.

The first game will see Scotland play Italy at 12:30pm at the Murrayfield Stadium. Then France will take on Wales at 14:45pm at Stade de France, and the day will round off as England face Ireland at 5pm at the Aviva Stadium.

Find out where in Oakham you can catch the games.