PLYMOUTH Buccaneers will face Reading Lions in the BAFA Southern Division play-offs this month after reaching the end of season competition for the first time in their history.

The play-off match will take place in London on August 13.

The Buccs ended their BAFA Southwestern Conference campaign with a win and a draw in Hereford to finish the regular season with a 10-6 record.

That was enough for them to finish third in their conference and secure them a fifth seed spot in the play-offs.

They lost their first game in Hereford, going down 28-20 to the host club.

That ended a nine-game winning streak for the city side.

A physical Hereford side took a 14-0 lead, but Barry Sellers found Sam Smith to get the Buccs back into the game and bring the score to 14-6.

Hereford, though, went 28-6 up through some long passes, but the Bucs finally got into rhythm with scores from Smith and Adam Lines and a superb one-handed two-point conversion by Ieuan Tucker to make the final score 28-20 Hereford.

That defeat was frustrating for Plymouth but they bounced back in their second game to beat Cardiff 20-13 in a cracking contest.

Plymouth drew first blood against their old rivals with yet another Sellers-to-Smith hook up for a 7-0 lead.

Cardiff responded before Smith put Plymouth 13-7 ahead.

Once again Cardiff hit back and pulled the game level at 13-13. The rest of the match was a tense affair until a cracking breakaway by Adam Lines sealed the game at 20-13 and secure Plymouth’s first ever win over Cardiff.

Buccaneers’ head coach Gareth Hawcoft said afterwards: “It was a hard day at the office but the lads stuck at it and battled away all day.

“Everyone is over the moon that we made the play-offs for the first ever time, which honestly at the start of the season we were not expecting with such a new team.”

The Bucs are now recruiting new players (male and female and no experience necessary) for next season. The team can be contacted at plymouthflagfootball@yahoo.co.uk or found on Facebook HERE.