Amber Valley 24 - Kesteven 19
Conditions at Amber Valley were dreadful - a very soft muddy pitch and constant rain - but somehow the teams managed to produce a thrilling game of rugby. The Kesteven side welcomed back Tony Woolerton to the back row with Michael Coghill and Jordan Smith also coming int the side. Marc Paton was at prop and in the backs Ian Charles and Hallam O'Brien came in on the wings.
The early exchanges were tight with the home pack winning most of the ball but with the Kesteven backs living on scraps looking the more likely to score. The speed of the Kesteven threequarters was important as they tried to capitalise on mistakes by the home backs. This led to the first score after 20 minutes when Dan Turner picked up a loose ball and quick as a flash he fed James Goodrich. James cleverly drew his man before sending a well timed pass to Phil Jordan who straightened hi line of running to go over for the try at the posts giving Turner an easy conversion.
Kesteven's desperation to spoil the Amber Valley possession led them to conceding penalties and just before the break this led to Hallam O'Brien being shown a yellow card. He was unlucky in that he paid the penalty for the team's errors.
From this penalty Valley kicked to the corner and took advantage of their numerical advantage to score. The conversion tied the scores at the break.
Valley added to their total just after the break with a second try through their forwards before O'Brien returned.
Kesteven responded well to this and kept trying to make the most of what little possession they had. They did this to good effect when the forwards won loose ball and fed the backs. Godd simple passing out to the wing sent O'Brien clear to squeeze over in the corner. The conversion failed but a couple of minutes later K's regained the lead. Turner was firts through on a dropped pass. He scooped up the ball, broke the tackle and had a clear run to the posts for a try which he converted to give K's a 19 - 12 lead with 20 minutes left.
Andy Brown and Frankie Davies replaced Jordan Smith and Marc Paton as the game entered the final quarter. As expected Amber Valley's pack through everything at K's and eventually they scored. The try came from a smartly taken tap penalty five metres out to narrow the gap to 2 points with 10 minutes left.
Conditions had a part to play in the final try. Amber Valley won possession near halfway and kicked into space at the corner. Justin Dingley covering back dived on the ball and slid over the line. As he did so the ball slid out from under him and the pursuing Amber Valley player touched down and the referee awarded the try. The conversion was good and Amber Valley had conjured up a 24 - 19 win, leaving Kesteven with yet another losing bonus point for their efforts.
Team was A Whitaker, I Charles, P Jordan, J Goodrich, H O'Brien; D Turner, J Dingley; S Odams, D Hayward, M Paton, J Cowley, W Pert, J Smith, T Woolerton, M Coghill Reps A Brown, F Davies, E Dovey
