Newark were seconds away from winning

Ron Rossin Shield Final – at Mellish Monday, May 6

Newark 2nds 19 Paviors 2nds 20

Newark were seconds away from winning the Ron Rossin Shield when Paviors had a fortunate bounce from a line-out to score in the corner.

The game started at a fast pace with Paviors playing some good strong forward rugby. From a five-yard scrum Paviors scored the first try and converted it 7-0.
With the Paviors forwards disrupting Newark's line-out we found it hard to make headway but we ground out some good play to get a penalty which Alex Nissim kicked at the second time of asking! 7-3.

From the restart we secured ball only for Jack Badley to be penalised for holding on and the Paviors hooker slotted the penalty 10-3.

Paviors put Newark under pressure and with some good hands scored in the corner 15-3.

From the restart Jonny Statham put in a good hit and from the continued pressure Newark won a penalty which Nissim kicked 15-6.

Newark were now on the up and put Paviors under pressure and good forward play gave the backs a chance to run with good hands from Nissim, Badley and Tom Bridges saw little Will Machin score a very good team try. Nissim slotted the conversion.

Half-time: Newark 13-15 Paviors

From the start of the second half Newark and Paviors both played some hard rugby but with both defences tackling strong, the opportunities to score were low.

Paviors made good ground and looked odds on to score only for Machin to make the tackle of the day to stop the large hooker scoring in the corner.
The penalties where now coming too often for the ref and Paviors where down to 14 men for a team offence.

Newark capitalised on the extra man and the arrival of Alex Moore, Dev Priestley and Jon Webster put the pressure on Paviors and two penalties in five minutes for Nissim gave Newark a 19-15 lead going into the last 10 minutes.

Paviors pushed hard and were camped on Newark’s line but with a great turn over by captain Mark Staines the very vocal crowd thought the Newark boys had done it!

But the ref and Paviors had different ideas and when Dev Priestley was sin binned for ‘holding on’ Paviors kicked to the corner and the rest is history.

Final score Newark 2nds 19 Paviors 2nds 20

It was a harsh and disappointing end to a very hard day for the Newark boys who all put their hearts and bodies into the game.
I would like to thank all the players, coaches and the subs who didn't get on the field for a absolutely tremendous effort. Next year is Newark's year.
Mark Staines

Team:
A Jackson, J Chapple, J Barnsdale, M Staines (capt), D Price, G Bartsch, I Murphy, D Fotheringham, M Brummitt, A Nissim, J Badley, T Bridges, N Galinski, J Statham, W Machin,

Subs –
A Moore, J Webster, D Priestley, D Coote, S Hutchinson, T Hill, J Whitton, C Hawes.