Spalding 26 Nottingham Casuals 22

Saturday 7th Nov 2015
Midlands 2 East N

Spalding 26 Nottingham Casuals 22

Casuals lost to bottom club Spalding in the dying seconds of the game.
Despite being in the lead for 75 minutes, Casuals contrived to let Spalding in for the winning try just as the game was due to end, coming away with only a losing bonus point, when they should have helped themselves to bonus point win.

Casuals first scorer came after only 5 minutes, when James Constable, returning from injury went over after a slick move in the centre, after a lineout, with Mark Higgins converting, and he later kicked a penalty to stretch the lead to 10 points.

Unfortunately some wretched defence, following a kick out from Casuals, allowed Spalding’s backs to run in a very easy try, which was converted.

Right on the stroke of half time, lock Tom Lightfoot was on hand to cross in the corner, and Casuals turned round 15 – 7 in the lead.

Shortly after the restart Casuals defence was again missing when Spalding’s left winger ran ¾ s the length of the pitch to secure another 7 pointer for the hosts.

Casuals were by now dominating the forward play, the pack able to win their own ball in the scrums and disrupt Spalding regularly, shoving them off their own put in, which eventually persuaded the referee to award Casuals a penalty try after a scrum, which was driven up to Spalding’s line. Higgins again converting.

Casuals then had opportunity to seal the bonus point, and probably would have been the winning score, but white-line fever set in, and despite the forwards battering the Spalding defence, the backs contrived to mess up the possession.
Spalding then profited from the let off and they came back with another converted try to pull the deficit to only one point, a position they should never have been in.

Then to rub it in, a speculative kick ahead was not cleared to touch, which probably would have signalled the end of the game, and as the ball was dropped behind Casual’s try line, no-one thought to touch the ball down. Spalding were allowed to drop on the ball for the try, leaving Casuals to wonder how they had contrived to surrender the win.