The 1sts produced another commendable effort in playing a full part in an excellent contest on a hard pitch at Bridgford.

At one stage it looked to be a wasted trip when Bridgford forced their way into a 24-0 lead midway into the first half. They were clearly out for revenge having lost the recent league game, 52-26. Their reward is a third-round tie against Old Brodleians or Morley.

However, the 1sts fought back to give Bridgford the hurry up and at one stage in the second half had a smell of victory in reducing the margin to 28-31.

In the end, Bridgford had the legs to win by nine tries to six for a place in the third round of this end-of-season competition.

Newark’s effort was underpinned by the hard work of their forwards led by captain Olly Dodders and fellow back-rower Sean Denning.

Dodders, helped off in the second half following another brave run, scored Newark’s first try after Bridgford looked to be set for an easy afternoon having built that early lead.

The try by Dodders gained Newark momentum which was continued when full-back Noah Catley burst onto a lovely pass from Joshie Waqalevu to score a second try.

A fourth try for Bridgford gave them a half-time lead of 31-14 which was cut further early after the break when Ovi Gilder shot clear for Newark’s third.

And when Henry Allen finished off following James Tarbatt’s escape from his own half an unlikely win looked possible as Bridgford led only 31-28.

In hindsight, Newark should have taken a kickable penalty minutes after Allen’s try but the decision to look for further tries gave Bridgford the opportunity to scurry back down to the other end for a further score.

The home team from then on had the upper hand interspersed by the latest scoring endeavours of scrum-half Elliott Paley who scored two more tries to add to his impressive appearances in the last month.
His second was a pearl – dashing clear off the back of a line-out.

Overall, the squad deserved the applause at the end for having stuck to their task against a bigger team.

Defeat means the 1sts finish their season next Saturday against Melbourne in the Notts, Lincs & Derbys Cup, at Ashfield RUFC, kick off 4pm. The 2nds play at noon, against Scunthorpe 2s, in their county final.

Team v Bridgford: Catley; Allen, Waqalevu, Walton, Gilder; Leeson, Tarbatt; Fern, Vinters, Ashton, Ellison, Churchill, Marsh, Dodders, Denning.
Subs: Godfrey, Dogiel, Paley.
Tries: Dodders, Catley, Gilder, Allen, Paley (2). Conversions: Leeson (4), Tarbatt.