Nottingham Moderns vs. Kesteven (08/09/2018)

Saturday saw the return of league rugby for Kesteven with the 1st XV travelling to Notts Moderns for the opening game. Kesteven travelled with a strong squad and were full of confidence going in to this encounter ready to get revenge for the loss they encountered at Moderns on the last game of the season.

Kesteven started well putting the Moderns defence under pressure for long periods in the opening 20 minutes but kept coming short of the white wash. Mid-way through the 1st half, a turnover in the Kesteven 22 led to a break from Sam Stedman who drew the tackle and passed to Purvis, he in turn found C. Goodrich up in support but he couldn’t beat the covering full back. Quick ball was supplied to the backline but they couldn’t beat the defence and the attack broke down. Modern’s then earnt a penalty with only minutes left in the first half, and realising that this could be a close game, chose the kick at posts. Half Time score 3-0.

The second half began much the same way as the second, a close encounter with neither side giving up. It was, however, Moderns that scored first. With Kesteven starting to force the game with offloads in the contact area, Moderns punished Kesteven’s mistakes with breakaway tries. 3 tries in 22 minutes for the home side, all from Kesteven mistakes put the game out of reach. The black army did not give up and still worked their way back in to the Moderns half. Earning a penalty, Cann kicked for the corner. The resulting line out was won and a maul was set, Kesteven were driving for the line when the Moderns flanker came in at the side and collapsed the maul, with the advantage, C. Goodrich broke for the line and was dragged down 2 yards short. Purvis was up in support to pick the ball up and drive over to dot down in the corner. Kesteven finally had points on the board to make the score 24-5 although the game was now out of reach. With only a couple of minutes left, Kesteven again went on the attack, with fast hands in the backs Kesteven tried to work the ball to the wing to exploit an overlap, but the ball took an unfortunate deflection and landed straight in the arms of the Moderns Centre where he raced away for a final score, 31-5.

Cam Goodrich put in a strong performance on his return to Kesteven. Charlie Pirie put in some thundering tackles before leaving the field injured and James Goodrich & Dan Halliday made some good breaks but couldn’t quite find their support or the line. It was a reasonably promising start for the pack in the set piece, with a strong scrummaging display and winning the majority of both teams lineouts.

Overall, a disappointing day for the black army with plenty to work on going in to their next match at home vs. Rolls Royce but for Coach Tom Price, there were some aspects to be pleased with.

Next match Kesteven vs. Rolls Royce @ Woodnook, Sat 15th Sept 3pm KO

Team: Draper, Halliday, Cox, Cann, J. Goodrich, Price, Whittaker, Stedman, Sheardown, Purvis (C), Pert, C. Goodrich, Webster, Armstrong, Pirie. Replacements: Hanson, Xipu, Addlesee