Kesteven win cup game against strong opposition

Kesteven 33 Rugby Lions 28

Kesteven welcomed Rugby Lions as their First Foot at Woodnook in the 3rd Round of the RFU Senior Vase. The home team made a number of changes due to injury and unavailability. The visitors looked to be a strong side and after the early exchanges sounding each other out Rugby opened the scoring with a neat move exploiting space on the left. This was converted minutes later they added a penalty to open up a 10 point lead after just 10 minutes. Kesteven hadn't been in the game up to this point but gradually they got some possession to establish some territory. They won an attacking scrum in the 22 but were turned over. From the reset scrum came the first indication that the home side might have an advantage. A good push disrupted the visitors pack and Leo Vincent was on hand to scoop up the ball and dive over in one movement. Olly Wood converted to narrow the gap. Ketseven did not get a chance to build on this success as they failed to deal with the restart kick and conceded a line out on their 22. Rugby won the ball and moved it well to create space for their second try. The conversion failed but they increased their lead when their strong left wing brushed off three tackles to score his second try. The conversion opened up a sizeable 22 - 7 lead after 27 minutes.

Things did not look good for the home team and shortly after Justin Dingley left the field with a leg injury to be replace by Adam Draper. He moved to full back with Olly Wood taking over at fly-half. It was going to take something special to get Kesteven back into the game. Draper picked up a loose ball deep in his own half and set off on a great run. He was about to round the last defender when he was stopped by a high and dangerous tackle. This resulted in the offending player being sent off. Rob Sheardown opted to kick to the corner and from the line out the pack forced their way over. Gavin Purvis was credited with the try. Wood converted to make the half time score 14 -22. At the break Sam Danford came on for Windsor with Lines moving out to the wing.

The second half started with Kesteven playing with more heart. The pack was now getting on top. Miles had a good run and looked to have got over the line but he was judged to have been held up. Kesteven drove the scrum over the line and the referee awarded a penalty try. Wood again converted to cut the defecit to one point. A Rugby prop was injured as his scrum went backwards and there was a lengthy delay as he was treated. Rugby to their credit tried hard to make light of their numerical disadvantage and tried to run the ball well. Their scrum half was particularly lively. They also had a good kicker and he slotted over a long range penalty followed by a closer one after 20 minutes to increase their lead to 7 points leaving Kesteven needing a converted try to draw level. Injuries continued to play a part and Ed Cole came on to replac the injured Wood.

Kesteven got a grip on the match and some fine strong running with Purvis looking particularly good. A further surge by the pack brought its reward when once again they forced their way over the line and Turner came up with the ball. Draper converted with a fine kick to tie the scores. It was all Kesteven now and in the final flurry they were awarded a penalty on the 22. Youthful excitement took over and they took a quick ta when a converted penalty would have given them the lead. They kept up the attack and although they were repelled this time just before the end at last the threequarters got the ball out. Ollie Hughes was able to make a half break and gave a good pass out to Tom Miles some 40 metres out. The young wing had a lot to do but he straightened his run and fended off would be tacklers to force his way over in the corner. The conversion failed but it was left for the to defend for a further minute before the welcome sound of the final whistle to bring to an end one of the most thrilling matches seen at Woodnook.

Team was O Wood; T Miles, O Hughes, W Aspinall, R Windsor; J Dingley, B Addlesee; S Odams, R Sheardown, G Purvis, D Tweddle, J Cowley, L Vincent, K Lines, D Turner Replacements S Danford, A Draper, E Cole