Nottingham Casuals 18 Belgrave 24

10th March 2012
Midlands 2 East North

Nottingham Casuals 18 Belgrave 24

Another disappointing result, and another game Casuals should have won.
At the moment they are beating themselves, making far too many inexplicable mistakes.
Casuals had to make a last minute re-shuffle when Will Drewe withdrew
with flu (after the warm up) but that should not have had a major
impact as there were other players able to step in who could cover the
change.

Casuals made a bright start taking play to Belgrave, and after several
passages of play, despite losing the ball, Casuals gained possession
against the head and late inclusion Charlie Bradwell made a decisive
break. The ball was quickly recycled, and Steve Sarno forced his way
over.
But the joy was short lived, Belgrave woke up and their pressure was
rewarded with a converted try.
They further increased their lead when they put a penalty into the
corner, and then drove the subsequent maul over the try line.

Casuals came back at Belgrave, and it was their turn to exert some
pressure, and when Casuals were awarded a penalty, instead of going for
the corner, Casuals instead opted for a kick at goal, which was
woefully short. Not learning from that, Casuals again went for goal,
and this time Belgrave made no mistake when the kick was missed,
banging the clearing kick right down to Casuals 22.
Casuals were then penalized, and Belgrave chose to take the scrum, and
they drove Casuals back over the try line for a converted score.

In the second half, as in the first Casuals went at Belgrave right from
the kick off.
A despairing clearance found Brodie Howatson who linked with Chris
Brelsford, who in turn fed Steve Sarno to get in for his second try,
Higgins converting.
Higgins kicked another 2 penalties to put Casuals within 1 point, but
Belgrave got back into the game. They were awarded a scrum near Casuals
line, and despite it being wheeled more than 90 degrees, Belgrave
managed to get over for the try.

Casuals showed throughout the game that they should have had the win,
but hesitancy and poor decision making, gave Belgrave a bonus point
win, with Casuals coming out with only a losing bonus point.