A bad day at the office!

A cool, crisp but sunny Saturday afternoon greeted the 2 opposing sides at Woodnook last weekend as 3rd placed Belgrave arrived to take on the Black Army. Some timing issues with the Kesteven warm up lead to a short warmup that was cut short in honour of a minutes silence to remember and reflect those that have served and given their lives over the centuries for their country.

The game kicked off at 2.15 with Brian Inglis from the NLD referee society as the match official for the afternoon. Kesteven dominated Belgrave for the first 15 minutes of the game finding that the fringes of the Belgrave ruck formations were slow and lethargic to react to a blitz attack. Dan Turner, Martin Carew, Doug Hayward and Mark Sayle were able to produce some very productive and barn storming runs having discovered this weakness but sadly none resulted in any points as the Belgrave defence was able to keep the home side out of the scoring zone and the travelling team began to get into their stride that demonstrated why they are near the top of the table.

Kesteven held firm initially but a small error resulted in a turnover that allowed the Visiting side to venture into the Kesteven half with some meaning for the first time in the game. The Belgrave forwards happily pushed the young Kesteven scrum around all day, taunting and jeering their way over the Kesteven line for their first try after 10 minutes which was successfully converted. The Kesteven restart somehow found a slight breeze somewhere in the upper atmosphere and was carried into touch, forcing a scrum which was again dominated by a very technical and experienced Belgrave pack. Kesteven were awarded a penalty on the 16 minute mark which Fly Half Matt Harland successfully kicked to make the score 3-10.

20 minutes or so into the game, play was stopped to tend to scrum half Adam Draper who had suffered a head injury requiring medical attention. Voldermort had obviously been creating Horcruxes that afternoon, attempting to preserve fragments of his soul to achieve immortality in the young scrum hall's forehead. Adam declared his new Harry Potter looks "just a scratch" and left the match and Woodnook to receive several stitches at Grantham Hospital to preserve his boyish good looks. All joking aside, the loss of Draper showed immediately in the Kesteven side and Belgrave grasped the upper hand to turn the screw a little further. Following another Kesteven kick off finding touch, Belgrave were again able to dominate the Kesteven scrum and a kick through, Ks knock on and the resulting scrum allowed Belgrave to secure their 2nd try of the game with the conversion going slightly awry on this occasion.

Just a few minutes later a well executed kick and chase was gathered up by the visitors and with the forwards securing the ball, Belgrave were able to sneak in their third try of the match which was converted. A penalty to Belgrave after 38 minutes saw the half time score at 3-22.

12 minutes into the 2nd half, Belgrave were able to steal a lineout from Kesteven and the resulting 30m charge gained the tourists a nice spot in front of the Kesteven posts to secure a drop goal. It was just 8 minutes before Belgrave added to their score when prop Gavin Purvis injured his ankle during a ruck. This left a gap on the fringe of the Kesteven ruck that the home side were unable to fill in time before the Belgrave openside was able to gather the ball and exploit the hole and make the 25m dash to the Kesteven try line taking the score to 3-30 with 20 minutes of play remaining.

Belgrave were able to use the prevailing wind to keep Kesteven in their own half for a good 10 minutes from the restart with the home side unable to find a way though the opposing defence. Wing Alex Ingram was able to gather one such kick and despite gaining plenty of yards, the attempted chip over unluckily bounced into touch. James "Kitkat Chunky" Goodrich, Kieran Taylor and Will Bradley were able to make some penetrating runs but the Belgrave defence held firm and Tony Woolerton was forced to clear the Kesteven line on several occasions. Belgrave picked up a penalty in the last 10 minutes taking the score to 3-33.

In the very last minute of the game, full back Aaron Whitaker skilfully managed to pick a perfect line to pass several stunned Belgrave defenders and touch down for Kesteven's only try of the game. Matt Harland successfully converted from wide and the game ended 10-33. Man of the match went to Will Cann for his enthusiasm and drive and for his step up to scrum half for the first time ever.

A disappointing and frustrating game for Kesteven who for some reason (perhaps it was the cold?) were unable to get the set pieces working properly and seemed lethargic in all but the first 10 minutes or so of the match. Next week sees the Black Army take to the road once again for a second outing to Bakewell. Hopefully their pitch has drained a little since the initial trip just a week ago!