Newark and Keyworth Provide Enjoyable Pre-International Spectacle at Kelham Road

A rag-tag mixture of 3 colts, a smattering of 2nd and 3rd team members and a posse of veterans put on a display of free-flowing Ba-Bas style rugby on Saturday at Kelham road, against local side Keyworth in this entertaining build-up to the England Wales match on the screen in the clubhouse later in the afternoon.

Despite the score line, it was Keyworth who started strongly, notching up a 7 pointer, after some last-ditch tackling failed to bring them to ground. Newark came back straight away with a good run by Budda leading to a score by Lewis Cove (7-7, conv. Armstrong), only to see Keyworth put another 7 points on them 5 minutes later – 7-14.

The small but vocal group of spectators were settling in for a keenly contested match at this point, and the visitors always remained competitive and were unlucky on several occasions not to put points on the board. But in reality, the mixture of youth, experience – and fitness – meant that Newark were dominant for the remainder of the game, running in 10 tries with 8 conversions.

Chief architect in this was colt Ed Armstrong (who also scored a hat-trick), working behind a solid scrummaging unit and ably supported by Matt Cove at scrum half, who provided a solid fulcrum for both forwards and backs to operate off. Players including Zach Briggs-Price, Matt Walton, Rogi and Budda all crossed the line, as did prop Ant Buckberry – who turns 40 in a week or so – topping it off by converting his own try.

To their immense credit, Keyworth stuck gamely with it and remained competitive in the loose, and it was fitting that they closed out the game with a well-worked try to give the final score of 71-21.

From Newark’s perspective, a really enjoyable game which gave the colts, 2s and 3s who played the chance to play in a relaxed fixture with a group of veteran players who have a wealth of Newark experience and leadership behind them. Highlights included Richard Byram showing that he’s still got it when it counts, demonstrating a fair turn of pace when not standing in for the ref, and some cunning backwards box-kicking from Covey, which kept everyone guessing, not least himself.

Lowlights – well, there weren’t any.