Great win to end the year

Midlands 2 East North
Leicester Forest 10 Casuals 18

It may look as if Casuals had a comfortable victory, but they had to come behind, and the withstand some determined play by Leicester Forest to secure the win.
Great win to end the year
Casuals forced to work for victory

Leicester Forest were up near the top of the league before this game, so it was credit to Casuals for winning away from home.
It certainly wasn’t a classic game, but it underlined Casuals ability in defence, and when they are in that mood, it’s difficult to break them down.
Several players were drafted due to un-availabilities,
and they did themselves proud. Mark Hobson played centre, Gareth Austin - wing, and Dave Cobain starred in the 2nd row. Ben Wells (needed him on the day, thanks Ben for stepping in) came in for his first game this season, and looked totally at home.
It was always going to be difficult in the first half, as Leics Forest elected to play down the slope with a slight wind advantage.
The game didn’t start the way Casuals would have wanted, when a kick was charged down, and Forest won the race to the loose ball, despite Casuals frantic efforts, and the hosts opened the scoring with a converted try.
Casuals were not daunted by that setback, and when Casuals won a scrum near halfway, Mark Higgins linked with Gareth Austin, and after he took play deep into the opposition half, Higgins was on hand for Austin’s offload to cross in the corner.
Casuals managed to maintain some pressure, and when Casuals were awarded a free kick, Ben Wells charged over for the second Casuals try.
That gave Casuals a slender margin at half time of only 3 points
Higgins opened the gap slightly further just after the restart, but Leics Forest potted a penalty, to put some pressure on Casuals.
Casuals gave themselves some breathing space on 28 minutes.
They had been pressing LF’s try line, with several penalties awarded to them and numerous scrums, but they just could not force their way over. Joe Barton managed to touch down, but the referee hadn’t played advantage and called play back. Casuals won the subsequent scrum and took the ball into ruck from which Higgins managed to squeeze over for the try.
Unfortunately Leicester Forest were determined not to give in without a fight, and they camped in Casuals 22 for the last ten minutes. Despite numerous attacks, Casuals really fronted up, and they were not going to let the lead slip. Their tackling stopped numerous forays and they just would not give the hosts the satisfaction of even 1 score, to give them a losing bonus point, Casuals running out deserved winners.,
It was great testament to both sides that game was generally kept clean of incidents despite the evident frustration of players from both sides (and spectators) at the decisions going against them.
Credit to Casuals players for not criticising the official.