Melbourne 21 Casuals 23

Midlands 3 East

Casuals had Howatson to thank for his goalkicking, as they edged a very nervy victory against Melbourne.
It was never going to be easy, but gifting Melbourne points on top of what they carved out for themselves was taking the spirit of Rugby a tad too far.

Casuals acheived a healthy lead in the first half, thanks to 2 penalties fom Brody Howatson and 2 tries from Chris Brelsford, the first a fine effort of determined running down the wing, and the second following a period of immense defence by Casuals on their own line. Melbourne had the line at their mercy, but instead of continuing the attack in the forwards they chose to go down the backs, which pushed them back further downfield as Casuals backs coped easily, winning back the ball, Casuals countered, and it was Brelsford who easily won the race in the chase of a Howatson kick ahead, which looked so easy in the end with the lack of covering defenders, but everyone breathing a sigh of relief as he scooped the rolling ball up and crossed under the sticks.
Howatson converted both
The second half saw a different story as Melbourne's determination and Casuals possible over confidence, saw the home side work their way back into the game.
A run straight through the centre brought a converted try, but with 2 scores in hand it still looked a safe bet for Casuals.
But a gift of the ball from Casuals to Melbourne, an intercept of a terrible pass, gave them an easy passage to the line.
Fortunately Howatson put over a fairly easy penaalty to give another 2 score lead (but not before he had missed some sitters!!!!)
Melbourne still not finished at that point, and they caused some more jitters as they went through for another score, as Casuals tackling seemed to melt away.
With the game only seconds from its conclusion Melbourne were awarded several penalty kicks to come out of their half. They did not have enough time to go to touch again, so they elected for a kick at goal, which thankfully for Casuals was much too far, and the touch down in goal brought an end to a very tense game.

Let's hope the shout "well done Brodie" in that Irish accent comes from the touchline the next few weeks, as Cauals go into a few games at homeagainst some tough opposition.

A word of thanks to the exchange ref from Hertfordshire for his control of the game and contribution to a reasonable afternoon, unfortunately later spoilt by England's efforts at Murrayfield.