Notts Casuals 33
Spalding RFC 12
Spalding RFC returned to the bottom of Midlands Two East (North) on Saturday after losing 33-12 at Nottingham Casuals – the only side who were below them in the standings.
A try in each half from Sam Cowell wasn’t enough for Town, who had targeted the game as one in which they could notch up a rare away success.
Spalding started brightly and played with plenty of intensity, retaining the ball well and pinning Casuals in their own half.
This pattern continued for the opening quarter of an hour, with scrum-half Will Shields spinning good, quick ball out to fly-half Harry Winch, who was dictating the play.
The impressive start was rewarded when Cowell, flying out in the backs, burst onto a Winch pass, eluded a Casuals defensive tackle and crossed the try line near the posts, with Tom Winch converting.
From the restart it was perhaps the first time that Casuals had been in Spalding territory.
But, steadily, the home team started to compete successfully and gain confidence as their half-back pairing started to spread the ball out wide.
The hosts were rewarded when their winger went over for an unconverted try.
Fortunately for the Elephants, the Casuals kicker was having an off day as several penalty kicks went wide and at half time Spalding had a deserved two-point lead.
The second half, however, was a different story.
Nottingham’s scrum had been steadily gaining the upper hand, so coach George Reid made the call to replace Kieran Bailey with Jason Steels coming on as flanker and
Tom Duerden moving to lock
The home team were in ascendancy and Spalding’s tackling was holding firm.
Invariably under pressure, possession was conceded either through knock on’s or penalties for a break down offence.
Casuals opted for scrums five metres out and, with weight advantage, three tries were conceded in quick succession.
And, with their kicker now finding his form, the home team built up a comfortable 26-7 lead.
Spalding responded and endeavoured to move the ball away from Casuals’ forwards – and they were rewarded when Cowell went over for his second try.
But, shortly afterwards, the Casuals winger danced his way through Spalding’s defence for the final score as the whistle went.
The key feature of this match was ball retention and, for the first 20 minutes, Spalding’s was excellent.
However, as the game unfolded too many unforced errors handed possession back to Casuals, who used their forward power to good effect.
Spalding staged a late revival, but again lost possession allowed Casuals to put in some good relieving kicks out of defence.
The loss leaves Town six point adrift at the bottom.
Spalding RFC: John Barrett, Sam Cowell, Gareth Osborne, Luke Turner, Kieran Bailey, Tom Duerden, Richard Cooke, Harry Brown, Will Shields, Harry Winch, Tom Winch, Huw Sharman George Brown, Gav Sharman, George Douglas and Jason Steels.
