Nottingham Casuals 31 West Bridgford 24

Midlands 2 East North
Nottingham Casuals 31 West Bridgford 24

Somebody forgot to tell Bridgford to read the script before this game, and Casuals at times seemed to forget how to tackle.

Despite scoring 5 tries, Casuals were always having to fight to keep Bridgford at bay, as their resoluteness brought the reward of 4 tries, and the losing bonus point.

At one stage it even looked as the visitors might even get the win, but Casuals held out.

Mark Higgins opened the scoring after only 2 minutes with a simple penalty, and he further increased Casuals lead a few moments later when he saw an opportunity down the blindside of a scrum and he streaked in for a try.
Unfortunately soon after Bridgford were given too much room in the centre, and they took route one through some poor defence to register their first try which was converted.
They even had the chance to take the lead when they took a penalty shot at goal, but the gale came to Casuals rescue and the ball went wide.

Casuals forwards took play upfield through a series of rucks and mauls,and when the ball was eventually released down the backs, winger Steve Naylor showed his opposite number a clean pair of heels leaving him floundering as he simply ran round him, and then outstripped the remainding defenders in the race to the line.

Once again though Bridgford showed they weren’t there for the ride. Casuals knocked on, and from the resultant scrum Bridgford went down the narrowside , and with Casuals defence evaporating, they had a straight forward run into the corner to narrow the gap to one point, a conversion would have given them the lead.

Casuals got their 3rd score when Ben Hallam ran the ball from deep in his own half, he linked up with Chris Brelsford, making great ground before putting Brodie Howatson clear, but he stumbled just before he reached the try line and was adjudged out of play. Casuals regained possession from a crooked throw in' taking a scrum 5 which they pushed over the try line, and Oli Mott grabbed the touchdown.
18 -12 at half time, and with the wind in their favour Casuals should have had an easy second half.
But again, Bridgford exposed Casuals midfield defence when 4 minutes later they went through for a simple run in, but again the wind denied them the lead from the conversion.
Casuals forwards provided the platform for the next score.
Higgins put a kick deep into the corner, and when Bridgford were penalised from the lineout, Casuals elected to take a scrum. The ball came out to Brelsford who had a straight run in the corner, ignoring the defenders in his path for his first try on his return to the 1st XV.

Bridgford repeated the same attacking move that had given them previous success, and finding no resistance, they again had a simple run in for their next try, which this time was converted, giving them lead for the first time in the game.

At this stage it looked ominous for Casuals, as whatever they tried seemed to get them nowhere, but eventually they worked their way downfield, grateful for Higgins touch kicking.
And it was Higgins who regained the lead for Casuals when he put over his second kick of the day, and the finally the forwards again won a ball at a scrum after a period of pressure, and it came out to Naylor who crashed in at the corner to the jubilation and great relief of the Casuals players, as they sealed a bonus point win. But they could not deny Bridgford the points for their 4 tries and the extra point for coming within 7 points of Casuals score.

Some lessons to be learnt from this display, as next week Casuals travel to Melton Mowbray to face a much sterner test.