Newark began at a furious pace

First, some context.

Casuals are a 1st XV side now lying third in the table with a reasonable chance of promotion. It's not that long ago they played regularly against our 1st XV.

In the corresponding fixture back in October they put more than 60 points on our 2nds.

But this is a match Newark should really have won. The losing bonus point may well prove crucial at the end of the season but it brought little consolation on a day when we showed our true character. Indeed, Cas were unable to score a single point in the second half.

October's game at Canalside was something of a disaster . We began slowly and were 40 points down by half time.

This game was completely different. Newark began at a furious pace with Ollie Case breaking free down the right touchline. As well as Newark started it was a sad beginning to the senior career of second row Paddy Mack. The teenager suffered a twisted knee less than 60 seconds after kick off and was forced to leave the pitch, replaced by the capable Josh Duggan.

With Matt Christian repeatedly making ground with some direct, bone shuddering charges and Scott Edmed stepping his way through several tackles, Casuals often found themselves back peddling in defence but Newark's old habits of making simple errors and conceding turnovers often ruined promising attacks.

Newark took the lead with a Rhys Overland penalty but we conceded possession from the re-start and a knock on in our 22 led to Cas' opening try from the resulting scrum.

Newark came back with sustained periods of pressure. Akaash Bagga comfortably took all his line out ball and skipper Ben Wells carried well on several occasions before an unfortunate interception led to a try for Casuals which was converted by skipper James Wood to give them a 3-12 lead.

Casuals then started to play more fluently and began to string together several phases of their own. They worked hard to win turnover ball and their third try took them to a 3-17 half time lead.

In the second half Newark's scrum - which had already been causing the visitors some discomfort - grew increasingly dominant. The front row of Wells, Nathan Leeson and veteran Jason Barnsdale had been highly effective and prop Jed Chapple added to Cas' problems when he came on. He also made several important contributions in the loose.

Newark's forwards took three balls against the head in succession and one ended with number nine Eliot Bratton racing for the line after breaking blind to make it 8 -17.

Casuals rarely threatened Newark's line in the second half but when their 2nd row made a surging break it seemed inevitable they were going to add their fourth try before Bagga snuffed out the threat with a crucial interception in our 22.

The great thing about watching the 2s is that you get to see young talent who could well go on to become Newark stars of the future. I suspect one of them may well be back rower Noah Marshall - a 17 year old who has captained NLD under 18s.

He came on for his senior debut in the second half making several tackles in quick succession and holding up a Casuals forward to win a turnover from a maul. On the subject of tackling, a special mention should go to Ed Marshall and Noah Catley who did a great job in restricting Casuals' skipper Wood. He is a dangerous, powerful runner but both Newark centres stood up to the challenge. At one stage Armstrong threw himself into a tackle before springing to his feet and making another just a few heartbeats later.

Newark continued to threaten the visitors' line before a break from Bratton and a sharp inside pass to Edmed sent the winger sprinting for the line to reduce the deficit to just four points.

We continued to string phases together and looked capable of getting that final score which would have secured a famous victory but too often good work was ruined with errors or turnovers,

It was with evident relief that Casuals booted the ball off the pitch to bring the game to a close.

It's a tough result to take. But we know we are good enough to compete with the best teams in this league - we just need to start like this every week and convert the chances we are creating.

Tries: Eliot Bratton. Scott Edmed
Conversion: Rhys Overland.