Kesteven 1st XV vs Southwell 1st XV

Kesteven 1st xv travelled to Southwell to catch up on the league fixture which was a victim of frost before Christmas on the back of an outstanding victory the previous week and were therefore full of confidence. They welcomed back Andy Peabody to the back row and Rupert Jordan to the wing, with Matt Harland making only his second appearance of the season off the bench.

The game kicked off in glorious winter sunshine on a pitch not looking it’s best, but still firm enough in places for some good running rugby. Kesteven began brightly looking to get on the front foot early and continue from last weeks fireworks, but they soon found the Southwell side a far more difficult proposition to break down. Rather frustratingly for players and supporters alike this made for a rather error strewn opening quarter, in which neither side managed to gain any ascendance.

It took a full 20mins for the deadlock to be broken following a great surge from Purvis who was causing the home defence issues and they were slow to roll away from the breakdown giving Will Cann a penalty kick. This he dispatched with ease to give K’s a 0-3 lead, an excellent return given the beginning to the match. The game again stuttered along after the restart with continued errors on both sides and the referees whistle at annoying regularity. It was Southwell who should have opened the try scoring however, but a woeful forward pass denied them a try in the corner. During the build up to this Will Cann suffered a reoccurrence of a shoulder injury and left the field to be replaced by Ben Betts.

Half time came with neither side looking particularly comfortable, but with Kesteven holding on to a slender lead. Harland replaced Rupert Jordan.

The second half began with Kesteven taking the game to Southwell, and following some devastating work from Goodrich, Parker opted for a long kick to the corner, which was measured to perfection making Southwell defend a lineout on the 5 metre line. Unfortunately with a near 7 ft line out jumper they cleared without too much trouble and were able to mount an attack of their own. The ball was turned over from a Kesteven lineout and following a missed tackle in midfield southwell made no mistake in finishing the try under the posts to take the lead for the first time 7-3.

This was a blow, but Kesteven were by no means out of the game and again took the fight to the home side. Goodrich, Purvis and Midgley continued to make good bursts through the line, but in a change from the previous week, the supporting player was often not there quick enough to either accept the offload or secure the ball. Following another strong run from Purvis however the Southwell tackler was slow to move from the breakdown and was duly shown a yellow card giving kesteven a numerical advantage. Harland opted for a difficult kick from the resulting penalty which drifted just wide.

K’s did all they could to try to drive home the advantage during the sin bin period, but all they were able to squeeze from the miserly Southwell side was a second penalty chance for Harland who made no mistake the second time of asking to take the score to 7-6 and anyones game.

Sadly it was Southwell who looked the more eager side at this stage, perhaps buoyed on by their support who by now were becoming more vocal. A good period of pressure gave Southwell an attacking 5 metre lineout. They had tried all sorts of moves all game to score from a lineout, which were dealt with expertly by the black army defence, but eventually they managed to find a way of forcing the way over the whitewash for a crucial second try. The conversion was missed, but with the scoreline at 12-6 and with time running out K’s were forced to chase the game a little.

Southwell were content to allow the away side to attack from deep, and with just minutes left on the clock Kesteven did just this. Just as they looked to have created an overlap for Rupert Jordan who had returned to the field for Cartwright, the ball went loose off a pass and the Southwell winger was there to snap up the ball and race in unopposed to the posts. The conversion made the score 19-6 and left kesteven to spend the remainder of the game trying to deny Southwell scoring a bonus point try.

The game ended with disappointment for kesteven who were looking for a crucial away victory, but nothing should be taken away from Southwell who defended extremely well and were able to resist all of K’s attacks. In reality, this was not a great game for the spectator, with Southwell very much capitalising on Kesteven mistakes. What is positive, however, is these mistakes are uncharacteristic of this young Kesteven side, and these days they tend to learn and bounce back quickly and so should be confident going into next weeks game.

Man of the match was awarded to Gavin Purvis for his strength in the scrum and his strong carrying around the field.
Next week sees the 1st xv entertain local rivals Sleaford at Woodnook. The visitors will be desperate to overturn the demolition they received before Christmas and with club sponsors invited to the game it should be a cracking fixture.

Team: Odhams, Sheardown, Purvis, Cowley, Pert,Peabody, Midgley, Webster, Draper, Parker, Cartwright, Goodrich, Cann, Jordan, Wood Reps: Osbourne, Betts, Harland