Nottingham Casuals 45 Nott'm Moderns 7

1st September
Notts, Lincs, Derbys Shield Round 1

Hat trick Hallam mauls Moderns

Casuals ended up easy winners in the battle of the Trentside clubs,
entertaining a large crowd who had attended a pre-match buffet.
Basking in the sunshine, they were entertained by the 1st XV in their first serious outing of the season.

With evergreen Christian Scott re-instated at centre, and Dave Mellor back in the No 9 shirt, Casuals were looking a useful and experienced outfit. The only sad part of proceedings was the omission through injury of Chris Brelsford, who will be on the touchline for the forseeable future, nursing his broken leg.
But for another player it was good news, after having recovered from a nasty leg fracture himself, a relieved Simon Roberts was back in after his long recuperation.

Ben Hallam helped himself to a hat trick of tries,enjoying his freedom from full back, Casuals eventually crossing for 7
in total.

Casuals put Moderns under early pressure, but silly mistakes kept
Casuals scoreless, until Hallam broke the deadlock with a jinking run
for his first score.

It took a while for the second score, but it was a simple enough
effort. Winger Steve Naylor made good ground up the left, bamboozling the defence, before slipping the ball inside to supporting No 8 Steve Sarno, who had a short run in. Higginsconverted.

It was Higgins’ cross kick that led to the next score, Naylor rose high
to claim the ball, and his quick offload gave Christian Scott a try to
mark his 1st team return. Higgins again converted.

The second half started very much like the first, but Casuals pressure
was not turned into points, as simple chances were not converted into
scores.
A Moderns kick upfield was gathered by Higgins, and he went on a
jinking run of some 40 metres, but as he was halted, joe Barton was on
his shoulder to take the pass to run through for his try, to which
Higgins added the conversion.

Casuals were again maintaining the pressure, and again a simple pass
proved effective when Mellor latched onto a loose ball, and Hallam
steamed through for his 2nd of the afternoon.

Casuals 6th try again came from sustained pressure, and Moderns were
harassed into
Dropping the ball, and James early secured possession, and the ball
went to Higgins who was determined to get onto the try scoring list, as
he just managed to crawl over the try line, adding the conversion.

Further pressure forced Moderns to touch down over their own line, and
from the subsequent 5 metre scrum, a superb miss move gave Hallam room
to accelerate through for his 3rd score. Higgins once more added the
conversion.

Moderns managed to have the last word, as they scored a consolation
converted try right at the death.

All the good moves were from simple passes. There were a number of
missed scoring opportunities, which could be put down to early season
rustiness, when Casuals ignored some glaring overlaps.
Some wayward kicking out of hand by Casuals allowed Moderns to turn
defence into attack. Casuals proved they were capable of stringing
together the moves, keeping the ball in hand, something they need to do
next week against visitors Coalville, who will prove a much stronger
challenge.