Stamford 21 Nottingham Casuals 15

Midlands 2 East North

20th February 2016

Stamford 21 Nottingham Casuals 15

2 tries for Annable as Casuals run the Stamford close, but again only earn a losing bonus point.

Stamford completed the double over Casuals with another narrow victory, with the game going right to the wire, Casuals ruing the try for Stamford from a charged down kick.

Casuals created a little bit of history with two sets of brothers starting the game, Graeme and Simon Roberts, together with Ben and Josh Newton.
Bryan Stuart normally a flanker, put in a sterling performance as a substitute on the wing in his 2nd runout for the 1sts.

Playing against the slope and wind in the first half, Casuals could have been forgiven for being behind at half time, but a disputed try in the opening moments following a charged down clearance kick, gave Stamford the upper hand very early on.
Although prop Antonios Alexiou seemed to get the touchdown, the referee gave the try, (even though it seemed fairly clear it was not to the report writer, who was standing about 4 paces away behind the goal line, a lot closer than the referee) But that is the way it is going for Casuals. A momentary lack of concentration is all it takes.

Casuals undaunted, fought gamely, however Stamford were dominant territorially, especially with their kicking to touch which was a major factor, intelligently using the conditions. That should have given Casuals a huge clue to what their tactics should be in the second half.

Casuals kicked to touch from a penalty, and Liam Annable took the ball over in the corner for the try, following the simple tactic of catch, maul drive to the line, and releasing only when safe. Score 7 - 5

Stamford replied late in the first half with 2 more tries, firstly with run straight through in the centre, and then their forwards rumbled over, with both tries being converted with some pinpoint goal kicking. Horrible for Casuals, but good to see a kicker seemingly well practiced in the fine art.
Half time 21 – 5 to Stamford. (An achievable target for Casuals)

The second half was as predicted, Casuals forwards doing a stupendous job of keeping the ball tight, rumbling forward. A kick to the corner allowed Casuals forwards to show their ball handling ability, and lock Simon Roberts scooped a pass up to dive in at the corner.
Stamford were reduced to 10 men following a high tackle on Steve Naylor as he tried to burst through in the centre, but the one man advantage was not capitalised on by Casuals, and the sin bin period passed without an addition to the score.
Casuals should have used the touchline as a weapon in their attack, but were not pinpoint accurate enough, and a series of mistakes kept Stamford in the game.

When at last Casuals got back down into the right hand corner, Annable latched on to possession from the throw and broke Stamford’s defence to dive in for his second try.

But working as hard as they could Casuals just could not get the converted try that would have given the game and a try bonus point, and again were left pondering what might have been “if only”.

A superb performance by the forwards without the reward they richly deserved. 9 man rugby suits Casuals, as they have proved before. This is a set of players, up front, who can run and handle the ball, keeping it tight, and their skills almost won Casuals the day.

Next week there is a break for Casuals from league duty, and ironically they should have been playing Stamford in the NLD cup, but due to rescheduled league fixtures, Casuals 1sts may end up without a game.