Nottingham Casuals 30 - Kesteven 8
Kesteven travelled to Notts Casuals on Saturday expecting a tough match from a team just one place above them in the league. After a narrow victory last weekend the K’s were looking to build upon that performance.
Injuries and a few players saw a Simon Oakes relinquish his 2nd XV captain duties to fill in at scrum half. Last seasons captain Peabody also came in as a late replacement to take his place on a strong looking bench.
The match started brightly for the Black Army. With the wind in their backs some adept kicking from Turner, Parker and Oakes saw good territory gained by the Grantham side. Early pressure and a clear dominance in the scrum saw good pressure put on the Notts Casuals’ line. A scrum won against the head saw number eight Smith pick up and drive close to the line. Though no try to come ensuing play saw Turner presented with a three point penalty which he duly slotted.
More territory and dominance saw a further opportunity for points sail narrowly wide. Midway through the first half the Nottingham side did seem to gain some continuity to their play. Their dangerous backline started to combine and holes in the Kesteven defense started to leak yards. Tony Woolerton did his level best to obliterate ever opposition culminating with a superb last ditch cover tackle to save a try. However, a series of ruck infringements saw the usually reliable Casuals fly half miss three penalties to let the visitors off the hook. At this stage the referee warned the Kesteven side about indiscretions at the break down.
Having missed numerous penalties the Casuals decided to kick for territory. Good line out ball saw their backline run a typically smooth play. This opened up a huge hole for their full back to race through under the posts. This was a disappointing end to a good first half for Kesteven. However, heads did not drop and buoyant side went to receive orders from coach Steele and captain Clarke.
With a plan to cut out the penalties and mistakes Kesteven turned round to face the wind with a positive attitude. The opening encounters of the second half were fairly even aside from a solitary penalty to the casuals. Soon after good rush defense saw the Casuals backline rushed into a mistake. A dropped ball on the Kesteven twenty two saw winger Rupert Jordan enter a football style dribbling race with an opposition player. With great superb skill he managed to win this encounter and draw the Grantham side level.
However, momentum soon shifted to the Nottingham side. A slick backline move saw the opposition winger released to run through some flimsy tackling to score in the corner. The conversion was good.
The next key moment really sealed the victory for the Nottingham side. Full back Dixon and Turner combined well to take a quick line out. The duo combined and broke into opposition territory. Quick hands saw Bennett and Phil Jordan combine to release Betts in the corner. The surly Kesteven winger was duly clotheslined in the process of scoring. Kesteven backs turned to the halfway in preparation for receiving the kick off after a penalty try. However, the referee had other ideas. In bizarre fashion he stopped play, dished out a yellow card and gave Kesteven a penalty five metres out!? Kesteven duly did not score from this and were pushed back to the half way. To make matters worse a midfield mistake saw turnover ball presented to the opposition backline. Their outside centre did the rest and outstripped a ragged defense to put the nail in the coffin.
A further try and a penalty from the Nottingham side sealed their victory. Kesteven were taught a few lessons in the art of finishing and need to cut out simple turnover ball. They travel to Barton upon Humber next week to a usually abrasive encounter. Lessons now need to be learnt from, and built upon, by this developing Kesteven side.
Team was P Dixon; I Charles, R Jordan, D Turner, P Jordan; M Parker, S Oakes, P Bennett, D Hayward, S Odams, N Clarke, W Pert, A Brown, T Woolerton, G Smith SUBS A Peabody, S Odams, B Betts
