Perfect conditions.

03/02/24
Away v Gainsborough 2s
Merit League
Won 15-24
Trys: Fisher (Luke not Craig), Towndrow, Holmes, Tacey
Cons: Harley (Davidson?)

The league campaign continued away at Gainsborough 2s on a great day for rugby. Clear sky's with very little wind and soft pitch. Perfect conditions.
Early exchanges were littered with mistakes and more than a few penalties given away by Newark. We were punished for indiscipline by Gainsborough as they took the lead with an unconverted try but minutes later we were on the scoreboard ourselves. Debutant no8 Luke Fisher picked up at the back of the unopposed scrum (where are all the props?) and bulldozed his way though two Gainsborough defenders. No extra points but this is how we were going to set about our game.
We scored two more tries before half time both off the back of the scrum but this time down the back line. Callum Holmes for one through the centre and Martin Towndrow got the other off the wing following good hands all they way through. Both were converted by Harley who was having a great game playing at 9.
5-19 at half time and we thought we could push on and extend our lead but it was Gainsborough who made the first impact with an unconverted try after 10 minutes. This got their tails up but our defence was strong all afternoon and we kept them out. The next score was from Josh Tacey who turned up to watch and ended up playing a full 80. Great commitment and a great try near the posts but his conversion attempt earned him dick of the day. A prop could have kicked it.
Gainsborough continued to battle on with lots of bullocking runs and had the final word. They scored another try but again no conversion. Discipline was an issue all afternoon and both teams had a player sin binned in the last quarter. Newark's was the softest yellow you've ever seen as for there to be high tackle there first needs to be contact which there was none.
Another win and all credit has to go to Trigger and Martin Towndrow who are doing a fantastic job running the mighty 3s. Keep it up boys. The whole squad got stuck in and earned well deserved points in the league and this includes the three colts making their senior debuts. Thank you lads we couldn't have done it without you.

--
Martin