Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire & Derbyshire Shield semi final

Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire & Derbyshire
Shield semi final

12th March 2016

Nottingham Casuals 23 Stamford 12

Saturday saw Casuals avenge their recent defeat in the league, with an emphatic win, and showed what they are capable of when things click into place.

With a minor number of enforced changes Casuals promoted several players, and the team gelled to produce a performance which has been on the cards for weeks.

The sunny conditions and a superb surface suited Casuals style of play, and they were able to play an expansive game, totally outclassing their visitors.
Casuals are blessed with excellent pitches with superb drainage, so the difference between Wednesday's sodden, boggy surface, and Saturday was a testament to that.
Once again the forwards secured a regular supply of ball, and the backs at last handled the ball with composure, not seen since the turn of the year.
The Roberts brothers gave Casuals good lineout possession from the front of the line, and the scrummaging was much more solid on the firm surface.

Casuals were first to score. They stole the ball at the breakdown, and advanced to Stamfords’ 22. The ball was kept alive and recycled through several phases, eventually re-instated wing forward Barry Harding dived over for a try.
Despite Casuals maintaining the pressure, they lost the ball and a breakdown in defence allowed Stamford to level the score at 5 apiece.
Undaunted they continued to dominate play, and eventually Casuals made the breakthrough with Liam Annable leading the charge, the ball was spun down the line, and Danny Riley made ground before releasing Bryan Stuart for the second try, and a brace for the wing forwards.
Mark Higgins added a penalty just before ½ time, with the scoreline balanced in Casuals favour a 13 points to 5.
The second half was only 4 minutes old, when left wing Steve Naylor charged over for the 3rd try, benefiting from some excellent work by the forwards. Higgins added the conversion, then further increasing the score with a penalty, when a Stamford player was lucky not to be sin binned for a reckless tip tackle.
At 23 points to 5 Casuals looked to be cruising, but Stamford were not finished. They broke Casuals’ domination, and went through for a late consolation converted try.
The self control both on and off the pitch was also key to this performance. The mood on the touchline can transfer itself to players' attitudes, and keeping on the right side of the referee can be crucial, not that he was influenced by Casuals' polite behaviour.
It was good to see a referee who showed good control of the mood and temper of the game, as well as being pretty accurate in his law interpretation. Thank you Mr Foulds.
As satisfying as the win was, Casuals must now concentrate and take this form into next week’s league encounter away at bottom of the table Bakewell.
Given Bakewell’s parlous position, and their inevitable and unfortunate relegation, Casuals should be able to come away with 5 league points, but they must not take their opponents for granted. 80 minutes of graft lie between Casuals and possible league safety, with 4 games to go. They cannot rely on Mansfield and Spalding losing their games, so a positive not cavalier approach is called for.
Mansfield have a game in hand, and Spalding are only a bonus point win away from Casuals, so discipline is the key in the run in.