Ashbourne 19 Nottingham Casuals 24

Midlands 2 East North
21st March 2015
Ashbourne 19 Nottingham Casuals 24

Casuals completed the double over Ashbourne, after yet another nail biting game, closing the gap between themselves, Ashbourne and West Bridgford in the league.
Previous encounters over several seasons, have seen very close games, the reverse fixture seeing Casuals win just 10 – 8.

Casuals took just two minutes to register their first score. No 8, Dave Gunn was in a backs move up the left hand side, and his audacious kick ahead was picked up by Steve Naylor, who barged through the defence to sprint away for the try.
Ashbourne were not helped when they had a player yellow carded for a deliberate knock-on, (one of several yellow cards during a whistler dominated game).
Despite losing scrum half Gareth Davies-Jones to a mouth injury after 10 minutes Casuals were not disrupted, and they managed to keep the pressure on.
They forced Ashbourne into a series of errors, and eventually Naylor, despite having to retrieve a poor pass, went in for his second try following another tackle breaking run, Mark Higgins adding the conversion.
The next score followed from the next kick off. Prop Antonios Alexiou caught the kick off, and he moved the ball to Higgins, who broke the line, and he linked with Miles Johnson, and he forced his way through the remaining defenders to run in from halfway for the 3rd try.
Unfortunately Casuals started to unravel as Ashbourne suddenly woke up, and they turned the tables to pin Casuals back in their 22.
The referee then decided that Casuals had transgressed too often. Ben Newton was yellow carded for a scrum offence, and Ashbourne were then awarded a penalty try, as Casuals weakened pack crumbled in a subsequent scrum.
Minutes later, Ashbourne forced a turnover, and the ball was sent down the line to winger, who had an easy run in for their second try.
Casuals started the second half with a 17 -12 lead, but they could not take advantage of the wind and slope, and the game went into limbo for ½ an hour, neither side making any real impact.
Casuals then had another player yellow carded, and Ashbourne turned this to their advantage, eventually getting another converted penalty try, to sneak into the lead by 2 points.
With only 5 minutes remaining Casuals went downfield and forced Ashbourne to desperately defend their line. Casuals backs mounted an attack down the left and they nearly went over the line through the forwards, but when they were held up, the ball was recycled and Higgins was able sprint through the centres to clinch the score, converting the try himself, earning Casuals a bonus point for their 4th try.
It was an exciting game to watch, but the constant dressing down of offenders and lengthy lectures was really frustrating and boring.
Bit of empathy called for here,
With West Bridgford losing to strugglers Stamford, the last 2 games will decide which Nottingham side finishes in the top half of the table.