Kesteven triumph in Colts Plate Final

The day of the Colts Plate Final didn’t get off to the best of starts with the team losing starting centre Harry H to injury and the coach being over an hour late to collect us for the long bus trip to Chesterfield.

The delay meant that the team only had 25 mins to warm up and had to hit the ground running as soon as they got off the bus. Fortunately we had trained well on Thursday to iron out any final kinks and the lads remained focused in spite of the challenges. It was also an emotional day given that for the older U18 Colts, this would be their last game as Juniors at the club.

We hadn’t played Ashbourne this season so we had no idea what they would be like but the lads had a steely confidence about them as they set up to receive for the start of the match. With the wind behind us. Jack H managed to kick Kesteven into good field positions throughout the first half and Kesteven dominated the first 35 minutes with a well structured performance. From an amazing 50 22 which almost travelled the length of the pitch Jack H got the Black Army into the opposition 22. The forwards then continuously hammered the Ashbourne defensive line with some really good carries from Ben T, Olly A, Oscar E and Joe F. The pressure resulted in a penalty on the 5-meter line which resulted in Captain Charlie C bouldering himself over the try line to open the scoring. Jack H converted the try from a challenging angle. 7-0

More great pod work followed with Joe F in particular punching holes with his fierce carries and from a resulting ruck, scrum half Mitchell C scored Kesteven's second try with a trademark snipe. Jack H narrowly missed the conversion. 12-0

Kesteven continued to create good scoring opportunities in the first half but failed to convert them into points with some sloppy handling and wind effected forward passes. The Kesteven defence remained solid throughout, and the half ended without any further score.

The second half started well for both teams but again some handling errors robbed Kesteven of further points. Some ill-discipline also crept into our game and from one such incident, where a Kesteven player was offside, and the solid defence we saw in the first half fell asleep, Ashbourne took full advantage with a quick break and scored their opening try. The missed conversion meant the score stayed at 12-5.

Momentum was clearly with Ashbourne as further handling errors, ill discipline and a yellow card for Henry FB saw Ashbourne take the lead with two further unconverted tries. 12-15.

With 8 mins left on the clock, Kesteven woke up and remembered their structure. Some excellent pod work from the forwards and some good carries from the backline (Zeph H and Sam T both impressing) took Kesteven into the Ashbourne 22. The Kesteven team had the bit between their teeth now and took control of the game. More patient work from the forwards saw Kesteven get within 5 meters of the Ashbourne line and the ball found its way to Leonard A who powered over the line to regain the lead. Jack H was unsuccessful with his conversion attempt. 17-15

With 5 minutes to go, the forwards took ownership of the ball and stuck to basics to run the clock down and ensure that Kesteven finished on top in a really exciting game.