Kesteven Colts 25 - Bridgford Colts 0
Kesteven arrived at Sleaford Rugby Club for the semi-final of the regional Shield competition with a team , which had had little practice together in the positions they were to play and relying on 5 under 17’s to complete the squad. Kesteven faced a team with several very large players that appeared to match them in strength and speed . Brave tackling from Sayle, Purvis, Cann and Andressen along with strong breaks from Braybrook and Odams saw Kesteven in a hopeful position after only 5 minutes. Good moves from the backs saw Lidstone run in an outstanding try, giving K’s a 5-0 lead.
With a stiff breeze against them, and a powerful opposing line, Kesteven’s backs played simple hands and ran hard. Berry and Dingley’s experience, and a short but effective appearance from Mihill, helped to advance Kesteven’s position, with Price covering K’s defence excellently.
After half time, with the score at 15-0, Bridgford came back strongly and several times came close to scoring, but crushing tackles and defensive moves from Smith, Cluse and Tweddle in particular forced Bridgford into many handling errors and prevented them from scoring.
Sayle’s skilful execution of lineout balls set Kesteven up yet again, to see Price run in the final try of the match with good support from the team.
The Final takes place on 27 April and Kesteven will have home advantage as Woodnook has already been selected as the venue for the NLD Shield finals on that day.
Odams, Cann, Purvis, Braybrook, Tweddle, Sayle, Smith, Andressen
Cluse, Dingley, Jones, Berry, Lidstone, Neville, Price.
Mihill, O’Brien, Bowles
