At last. A great win, well deserved

Saturday 22nd March 2014

Midlands 2 East N

Nott’m Casuals 26 Bakewell Mannerians 15
Casuals battled to a well deserved win, against a very determined Bakewell side.avenging a loss earlier in the season, to drag them away from the relegation zone.
This was a game that could have erupted, but great credit must go to both sides for their self control.

It wasn’t all plain sailing for Casuals as they had to claw their way from behind twice after initially having held the lead.

Playing with the wind at their backs, Casuals Mark Higgins potted an early penalty, after 3 minutes, but Bakewell equalled shortly after. Higgins then regained the lead with his second penalty.

With Casuals pressing hard, they failed to stop the Bakewell winger when he ran from inside their 22, and his pace easily took him upfield for a try, that was converted.

Casuals managed to rescue things when the forwards took a maul over for their first try, which was claimed by Joe Barton.
But again Casuals were pinned back when Bakewell won a scrum on the 5 metre and they ran in a try deep in the corner to nose ahead by one point.

Casuals came back on the attack, and it was Brodie Howatson who took difficult catch, brilliantly, and he set up a move which eventually gave Higgins a run in, giving Casuals a slender 4 point advantage at the break.

The second half looked as if it might be a difficult 40 minutes, with Bakewell having the benefit of the wind, making the lead very vulnerable.

Casuals’ forwards had a great influence on the game, keeping possession for long periods. Good handling and series of rucks and mauls kept Bakewell pinned back, and their only opportunity came via a penalty kick, which was woefully wide.

With the game degenerating into a mess around loose play with countless players going offside and killing the ball, Casuals’ forwards decided they had to control the breakdown, as the referee seemed incapable of doing so. The lid was kept on the game by both sets of players, when they realised it was futile waiting for the whistle, and eventually Casuals determination was rewarded with a try wide out with Howatson crossing, Higgins adding a long range conversion into the wind to seal a superb but well deserved win.

Next up Casuals have to play league leaders Belgrave, away, which will prove a huge task, finishing with a home game against Dronfield.