Nerves get the better of Kesteven's 1st XV

Saturday 21st September saw Kesteven's 1st XV arrive at a very warm and sunny Meadow Road with a much changed side that defeated Melton Mowbray 57-0 the weekend before.

With 7 starting 1st XV players absent, a number of 2nd XV players were called up to the 1st team and the knock on effect throughout the club was felt with the 3rd XV having to postpone their game against Market Rasen. Most of the absentees formed the 1st XV back line and the young Kesteven side knew the challenge ahead of them was going to be a tough but never-the-less a very winnable fixture. Many players found themselves out of their usual playing positions.

Casuals kicked the game off at 3pm. Martin Carew and James Cowley cleaned the first ruck out, hitting a Casual's flanker hard enough to rattle his ancestors. Much of the first half was played in the midfield with both sides finding their feet on a very narrow pitch. Kesteven were able to make a few breaks with Ingram on the wing covering half the length of the short pitch and Turner (normally in the back row but today in the centres) hammering the defence but Casuals were able to defend their lines well.

Perhaps the nerves and pressure had proved a little too much for some of the new faces in the starting XV and it wasn't long before Kesteven found themselves 3-0 down in the 16th minute from a penalty. Some confusion within the back line resulted in a game of 'hot-potato' leading to a knock-on on the K's 22m line.

Kesteven were again penalised 5 minutes later for holding on to the ball in a ruck but fortunately Casuals were not successful with the penalty. Some relief was felt at the half hour mark when Kesteven were awarded a penalty for a handling infringement and Daniel Turner slotted the kick to level the score and settle a few of the Kesteven.

At half time Matt Harland was brought on for Harry Martin and Olie Hanson for Gavin Purvis, resulting in some reshuffles within the team once again. It didn't take Kesteven long to find their feet in the 2nd half though. A fine working pairing of Doug Hayward and Dan Turner managed to release Ollie Wood, who cut through the Casuals defence and touched down for the try on the 15m line after 48 minutes of play. The ever reliable boot of Matt Harland took the score to 3-8 in Kesteven's favour.

10 minutes later Casual's were penalised for lifting K's winger, Ollie Hughes, dangerously in a tackle. Matt Harland narrowly missed the 3 points but Ks retained a lead of 3 points to 10. Ben Betts made his 2013 1st XV debut, coming on for the injured Ollie Hughes.

Play continued with the pressure and tension building for both sides and it wasn't long before Kesteven were again penalised for putting hands into the ruck within kicking distance of the posts. Casuals took their 3 points from this infringement taking the score to 6-10.

The final ten minutes of the game saw the frustration building within the K's team. Following an over commitment to a ruck situation and a number of people out of position on the field, Casuals were able to take full advantage of the depleted defensive line and ran 2 unconverted tries in on the 33rd and 35th minute marks taking the score to 16-10.

Tension was now at boiling point for Kesteven with just 5 minutes to go and a converted try required. Play stopped on a couple of occasions in these penultimate minutes - firstly for the Casuals number 6 who was caught using his fists in a very unfriendly way and then secondly for number 8, Martin Carew to have treatment on a badly dislocated finger.

The dying minutes of the game saw Kesteven pinning Casuals in their own 22. A bad decision to go down the narrow right-hand channel, and not utilise the 4 man overlap of forwards and backs lined up to the left, resulted in a lineout to Casuals rather than the desperately needed converted try. Kesteven were unable to disrupt the resulting lineout and Casuals cleared their lines to finish the game 16-10. Kesteven secured a bonus point for finishing within a score of Casuals but slip from 1st to 4th place in the league after week 2 of league action.

Captain Tom Webster commented after the game "a big thank you to all those guys that stepped up to the 1st team this week. This was a game that we should have won. The team arrived in the wrong frame of mind but managed to do ok. We were caught out in the last 5 minutes and this conceded us the game"

Coach Mark Sayle explained his disappointment after the match: "The 18 guys that came to Casuals today are more than capable of dispatching most opposition that we will face in our new league this season. I think a lack of confidence and too many nerves got the better of us today and we threw the game away in the last 5 minutes"

After a number of comments from within the Casuals team about his standard of propping, their inability to live with it and a very strong 80 minutes of play, James Cowley collected Man Of The Match.

This Saturday (28th September) sees the 1st XV take a break from their 2013/14 league campaign to face Leicester Forest at Woodnook on a road that leads to Twickenham. this is the first round of the RFU National Intermediate Cup and Kesteven welcome back to the side many of their absentees and will be looking to return to winning ways.

Team: Odams, Hayward, Purvis, Pert, Cowley, Webster(c), Lines, Carew, Wood, Martin, O. Hughes, Jordan, Turner, Ingram, Taylor. Reps: Hanson, Harland, Betts

Photos: Louise Clark

The Grantham Journal Report