NEWARK 2nd XV
Matches
Sat 15 Oct 2022  ·  Counties 3 Midlands East (N) East
Nottinghamians
7
55
Newark RUFC
NEWARK 2nd XV
The second half was notable for Newark's dominance

The second half was notable for Newark's dominance

Newark - ADMIN ONLY RUFC - WEB SITE15 Oct 2022 - 18:16
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Nottinghamians had a lot of defending to do

NOTTINGHAMIANS 1ST XV 7 NEWARK 2ND XV 55

BY BOB WALKER

As sporting cliches go, "back to winning ways" is right up there with "a game of two halves" and "take each game as it comes." Anyone who uses it should be banned from a keyboard for life.

Anyway, our 2nd XV got back to winning ways with an ultimately satisfying victory over Nottinghamians at Adbolton Lane.

You might think from the scoreline that this was a walk in the park for Newark . If so, you'd be wrong.

Before this match Nottinghamians had been working hard in training on ball retention and it showed.
In the early exchanges they went through the phrases repeatedly and their big runners constantly asked questions of the Newark defence.

The home side's full back also proved to be a speedy and elusive runner and punished any loose kicks with his counter attacks which gained a lot of ground.

But with Newark's scrum half Alex O'Dell popping up all over the place, Nottinghamians had a lot of defending to do themselves.

Newark's account was opened by Dave Fotheringham , though his try was scored so far away from this spectator I'm not quite sure how it came about.
What I do know is that Fotheringham went over in the corner and fly half George Leeson banged over the conversion from close to the touchline.
This, it should be noted, is one of the widest pitches in the Three Counties as Nottinghamians admit themselves.

Moments later Leeson showed a more delicate touch and his nicely-judged chip over the defence was touched down by right winger Ed Armstrong to make it 0-12.

The home side came fighting back, the bigger players punching holes from the breakdown and they were unfortunate to be denied a try when they were held up over the Newark line.

Full back Robbie Hunter-Shaw was next to touch down after some crisp passing down the backs and a Rhys Overland half break created space for him.
Unfortunately Hunter-Shaw pulled his hamstring in the act of scoring and he had to leave the pitch to be replaced by Tom Partridge.

Another superb conversion from near touch by Leeson put Newark 0-19 up at the break although a number of spilled passes and one unfortunate bounce of the ball denied Newark several more tries.

The second half was notable for Newark's dominance in the line out where Josh Codd proved a positive nuisance and constantly robbed Nottinghamians of possession.
Newark's backline also began to cut loose with Kent Birch consistently breaking tackles and finding gaps.

Codd added to his line out heroics with a try after an inside pass from Leeson found Harrison Holborn who carried strongly before Codd was able to shrug off a number of tacklers. Leeson converted.

The next try was probably the pick of the bunch. A flowing move down the backs featuring Birch, Chrs Tate and Tom O'Leary ended with left winger Rhys Overland crossing for his first try, inevitably converted by Leeson.

Nottinghamians then seemed to tire as Newark grew stronger. O'Dell burst down the touchline from inside his own 22 before passing to Partridge who in turn fed to veteran Tate who had enough pace to reach the line.

Leeson capped another fine all round performance with a try after Overland's initial break led to another powerful run from Birch. And yet another Birch break enabled O'Dell to go under the posts for a try he converted himself.

It was a tough day for Nottinghamians but they scored a converted try as consolation - an indication that they never gave in.

But Newark had the last word as Overland, playing at scrum half for the injured O'Dell, went over for his second from a 5m scrum to make the final score 7-55 - a nice way for skipper Ben Wells to celebrate his birthday.

A word of praise for the hosts - they seem a friendly bunch and the match was played in good spirit.
These are challenging times for many grassroots clubs and Nottinghamians face competition for players from a lot of Nottingham clubs higher up the league structure.
And for historic reasons they don't have a junior or mini section. It is to their credit that they continue to field a side every week and that the social element of the game remains an important part of who they are.

Tries: Rhys Overland (2), Dave Fotheringham, Ed Armstrong, Robbie Hunter-Shaw, Josh Codd, Chris Tate, George Leeson, Alex O'Dell.
Conversions: Leeson (4) O'Dell.

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Match details

Match date

Sat 15 Oct 2022

Kickoff

15:00

Competition

Counties 3 Midlands East (N) East

League position

5
Newark II
8
Nottinghamians
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

CLUB'S MAIN SPONSOR - Newark Storage
GOLD & BIG SCREEN SPONSOR - InXpress
BRONZE SPONSOR - Chiumento Ltd