Cup defeat

Casuals were forced into a raft of changes due to a club member's wedding and struggled to gel together during a tough away fixture. Whilst the forwards provided dominance upfront, the final pass and the killer instinct that is normally so evident proved a step beyond the Nottingham side. It was a good display of tight rugby, punctuated by bullocking runs from Andre Mostert and Howard Sanderson, but power never quite materialised into points as the minutes ticked by. A penalty from Higgins proved to be the only official score for Casuals, though a seemingly straight forward second half try from a quick tap penalty was disallowed to the surprise of both home and away fans alike. It was a game full of such disppointments, and it ended in controversy when a player was taken out off the ball with a clear run to the line and the referee declined to give the penalty try that was surely deserving.

Casuals had chances to win, and Old Leamingtonians will consider themselves lucky to have not leaked points, but it gives us the oppotunity to concentrate on our promotion push as we move into the second half of the season strongly.