Kesteven 14 - Oakham 22 (including club round up)
On a beautiful spring Saturday Kesteven sought to entertain the large group of ex players who had gathered for reunion day in their rearranged league match with Oakham. Local Kia Agents Victor Wood had sponsorred the match ball and the stage was set for a match which would determine who was going to be in the promotion race.
Kesteven had Simon Morgan back at scrum half and the squad had a comforting familiar lokk about it.
The early exchanges were pretty tight with both teams keen to size each other up. The home forwards looked strong and were causing the visiting pack some problems. Oakham however were keen to move the ball in the backs at every opportunity and took an early lead with a try, scored out on the left wing. The conversion failed. Kesteven responded well from the restart when Oakham were penalised after the home forwards won possession. Turner kicked the goal and added a second to nudge his side into a narrow 6 - 5 lead.
Kesteven's defence has been a strong point this season so it was a couple of uncharacteristic lapses which turned the game. First was a break through in midfield which led to a try between the posts, then one of their pack burst through from a maul 20 metres out to run in for an easy try. One was converted to take the lead to 19 - 6. Turner added a third penalty just before the break to take the score to 19 - 9.
The second half was much tighter. Oakham had the benefit of the wind but were unable to pin Kesteven back for long. The home side had more of the play and Phil and Rupert Jordan both had good runs, without being able to break the final tackle. Despite their improved performance it was Oakham who scored next with a penalty. This merely spurred Kesteven on and 15 minutes from time they finally got their reward. Morgan took a quick tap penalty and found ready support from the forwards before Hayward got over for the try. Turner's conversion just failed leaving the gap at 8 points. This proved insurmountable and Oakham held on to win by 22 - 14 and take the greater step towards promotion.
Kesteven were disappointed not to have won this game, indeed there was not that much between the sides. It was disappointing to concede a couple of soft tries through missed tackles. The pack played well. Odams in particular was lively, Hayward won a couple of strikes against the head, Pert bossed the line out and Woolerton and Smith both had some fine moments. In the backs Morgan gave an assured display at scrum half, while Parker's experience kept the team ging forward. Turner was well policed but was still able to put in some telling kicks while the Jordan brothers, Windsor and Dixon tried to run out from broken play. Brister replaced Brown and Betts relaced Windsor while Paton replaced Bennett near the end.
Team was P Dixon; R Windsor, P Jordan, D Turner, R Jordan; M Parker, S Morgan; S Odams, D Hayward, P Bennett, N Clarke, W Pert, A Brown, T Woolerton, G Smith Reps B Betts, D Brister, M Paton
Kesteven U-12’s Match Report 14/3
Kesteven 5 Newark 15
Kesteven 0 Newark 20
Kesteven 0 Newark 30
Kesteven showed great determination against a strong Newark side,rucking and mauling tenaciously to keep their powerful runners at bay. Tom Mawer again showed flair, with a neat sidestep to score K’s equaliser in the opening match.
K’s had to defend stubbornly, repeatedly holding Newark up as they camped on the Kesteven line with Ali Campbell and Gareth Lord tackling hard.
Despite scrummaging well against a larger pack K’s eventually tired as Newark rotated their forwards and opened up gaps in midfield that their backs exploited.
Under 11 v Newark
KESTEVEN 0 Newark 24
KESTEVEN 7 Newark 7
KESTEVEN 7 Newark 0
A good spring day was rewarded with some fine running Rugby at the weekend with Newark being slightly flattered by their 4 try win in the first game. Good ball out from the breakdown was probably the only difference as they were made to work for everything and had to cope with an onslaught late on.
In the second game Ks seem to have more structure and were quicker in support and attack than earlier and this time despite going behind in the first half they came back with a try and conversion by Jack Rogerson after a perfect passing move down the line to the wing.
Good work again from Kearsey and Lampard meant the forwards had their fair share of balls won with all in the scrum making it even all day.
In the last game again both sides were very even but Kesteven had one last push and Lampard managed a jinking run through the half back hole and avoiding the full back scored under the posts. Again converted by Rogerson.
A fine day with two sides playing the game in exactly the right spirit.
Players
Lampard(C), Clydesdale, Kearsey, Lampard, McLoughlin, Pashley, Rogerson, Udom, Wheeler, Windsor
21st March
U6 Training
U7 & U8 NLD @ Nott'm
U9 & 10 NLD Finals @Newark
U11 & U12 - Training
U13 Stamford A
U14 Grimsby A
