Ashby vs. Kesteven (14/10/2017)

Kesteven travelled to Leicestershire to take on Ashby. The ground was well prepared and bathed in fine autumn sunshine. Kesteven made a good start and Ken Lines sharp at scrum half with a keen break. Ashby conceded a penalty which Galloway converted with ease to open the scoring. The lead did not last long as the visitors failed to deal with the restart kick and conceded a penalty. Ashby kicked to the corner, won the line out and rolled over for the try which was converted. Kesteven found it difficult to get possession and it was hard to get into the game. They lost Webster to a head injury after 20 minutes with Vincent coming on as replacement. Worse was to come as Pirie received a yellow card as much for an accumulation of the number of penalties given away. Ashby added a couple of penalties before the break to extend their lead to 13 – 3 at the interval.

Kesteven got off to the best start to the second half. The pack got into good territory and a fine drive ended when Captain Purvis pirouetted of the maul to go over to score. Galloway’s conversion hit the post and stayed out but Kesteven were back in the game. They were helped when an Ashby player was sent to the sin bin for a tip tackle. Galloway kicked the penalty to narrow the gap to 2 points. They were forced to reshuffle the side again as Ken Lines left the field with a leg injury while Ashby made light of the loss of their player. They were able to kick deep into the Kesteven half and worked their way over for their second try.

Turner made a great effort as Ashby were penalised. He was stopped just short while Ashby conceded another penalty. This time the visitors eschewed the offer of 3 points. Then Turner was unlucky to be yellow-carded when making a try saving tackle and Ashby extended their lead. They followed this up with a third try as Ashby took control. They lost a player to a second yellow card but were still able to get the vital bonus point try for the home team came soon after before Galloway broke away for a consolation try for Kesteven. Ashby had the last word with a final converted try following a bizarre line out on the Kesteven line to wind up as winners by 42 – 16 to climb to second in the league.
It was a disappointing day for Kesteven. Purvis worked hard but the pack were not able to keep possession for long. Cowley and Stokes were prominent but the Ashby defence were geared up to deal with the power from the Kesteven back division. Turner was always on the lookout for openings and Cox had a couple of good runs.

Team was: B Hall, H Bartlett, D Halliday, D Turner, H Cox, C Galloway, K Lines; A Brown, R Sheardown, G Purvis, C Pirie, J Cowley, T Webster, R Armstrong, J Stokes

Replacements: W Pert, L Vincent, T Price