Kesteven vs. Nottingham Moderns (02/09/2017)

Kesteven opened the new season on a perfect September afternoon. A Guard of Honour from Kesteven Mini Rugby players welcomed the teams onto the field.

Kesteven kicked off and quickly got into their stride. They opened the scoring after 10 minutes when Chris Galloway broke from the scrum 30 metres out and found Dan Turner in support to run in to score at the posts. Galloway converted. The restart kick from Moderns went straight to Turner who picked up and raced in from half way to score without a defender getting near. Galloway converted again. Moderns roused themselves and opened their account after 20 minutes with a try in the corner which was converted with a great kick. Chris Galloway suffered a head injury and left the field. Andy Brown came on and Dan Turner moved out to fly half. The Kesteven pack were getting on top and created the next try with a good drive from a scrum. Pirie was credited with the try. Moderns gained an advantage a few minutes later when Tom Miles received a yellow card for a dangerous tackle. Moderns then scored a a second try to narrow the gap to 19 – 14 before Dan Turner scored his hat trick and bonus point try just before the break. His conversion took the score to 26 – 14 at half time.

The home team continued where they left off at the start of the second half. They quickly built up a good spell of pressure and it was that man Turner who scored the next try. Pert set up the opening and Dan sold an outrageous dummy to carve open the Moderns defence and score at the posts. Rob Cann added the conversion for this and for the next try also by Turner, his fifth, to take the game out of sight. Ben Hall added a further try to bring the total up to 45 before Kesteven eased off and resorted to the kicking game. Miles and Tweddle came close to adding tries but mis-handling let them down. Hanson and Charles came on for Brown and Betts then Brown returned to replace Fuller for the last 5 minutes allowing the youngster a well earned rest. Moderns kept playing and were rewarded with a third try but it was a good convincing win for Kesteven. Turner with his haul of 5 tries was Man of the Match but there were good performances from Fuller making his debut in the back row and the usual strong work from Cowley, Pirie and Purvis. Rob Cann turned in a useful performance in the unaccustomed position at scrum half.

Team was: B Hall, B Betts, T Miles, P Jordan, H Cox, C Galloway, R Cann, W Pert, R Sheardown, D Tweddle, J Cowley, C Pirie, D Turner, H Fuller.

Replacements: A Brown, I Charles, O Hanson.