Casuals 36 Ashby 24

28th March 2015

Midlands 2 East North

Casuals 36 Ashby 24

With the 2 sides above them losing, Casuals leapt 2 places into 5th place after they hold off a spirited 2nd half Ashby fightback.

Casuals kicked off the proceedings with a minis event together with a lunch for past players and supporters.
(Well done all for organising the day, the club had a great buzz.
The 1st team then proceeded to entertain the gathering with a fine 1st half display, then holding off Ashby when they used the wind at their backs to force Casuals into a tremendous defensive effort.

Casuals had a father/son combination in the backs with club President Mark Hobson, a sprightly xxxx, and his son Cole on the wing. With brothers Graeme & Simon Roberts in the forwards, it made a real family day on and off the pitch.

It took just a couple of minutes before Casuals scored, shifting the ball from Ashby’s kick off, Brodie Howatson cut through and Chris Brelsford finished the move for a try, with Mark Higgins adding the conversion.
Ashby struck back with a try after they had kicked a penalty to touch, and the 3s move away from the lineout took them over for an unconverted try.
Casuals were temporarily reduced to 14 men when try scorer Brelsford was yellow carded for a careless tackle, but that spurred Casuals on, as they scored twice in his absence. Is there a message in that?
Higgins firstly kicked a penalty, then Casuals won a scrum on the 5 metre, Oli Mott took the ball on from the base, and he gave a pass to scrum half Gareth Davies-Jones who barged in to touch down, Higgins adding the conversion.
A further score came when Casuals stole a lineout, and when Ashby transgressed defending, Davies-Jones quickly tapped the penalty, leaving Ashby flat footed, and he sent Gerard McKnight in, Higgins again adding the kick.
Casuals had further opportunities to score, but it took them a further 13 minutes before they increased their lead. The forwards provided the possession from the right, and Higgins threw a long miss pass to winger Steve Naylor who managed to crash over in the corner. Higgins added the conversion with a sweetly struck kick from near touch.
Casuals went into half time with the score at 31 points to 5, but having to play into a very strong wind, made their second half task extremely difficult.
Ashby used the wind to their advantage and they kept Casuals pinned back from the restart, but they were unable to convert their possession because of their tendency to lose the ball too readily as they had done in the first half.
Eventually a forward drive from a lineout took them in for a try. They increased their tally when their centre went through Casuals slack defence leading to a converted try.
5 minutes later, Casuals were adjudged to have illegally halted Ashby’s forward’s drive, and the referee awarded a penalty try under the posts, bringing Ashby up to within 7 points.
Casuals managed to scrabble their way out of defence surviving Ashby’s onslaught, and they went upfield mounting an attack which saw Howatson scythe through, and it looked as if he would run clear before a very rash head high tackle dramatically halted his run. The penalty was quickly taken and quick transfer of the ball gave Cole Hobson room to use his speed to get past the defenders to touch down wide out, sealing the win.
Ashby tried desperately to get over to earn themselves a losing bonus point, but Casuals held on to repel their attacks.
With just one minute to go, Oli Mott was despatched to the touchline following his first ever yellow card, but his short absence fortunately made no difference, as Casuals recorded the bonus point for their 5 try haul, whilst Ashby consolation on a 1 point bonus for their tries was scant consolation for their efforts.
Had they had managed to keep possession for longer periods when attacking, the outcome might have been very different, but Casuals tenacity in defence proved to be Ashby’s undoing.

Ashby spectators seemed somewhat upset at the loss, no doubt relegation is a bitter pill to swallow, but their short lived tenure in the league has been terminated. With a bit of patient coaching, their young side should bounce back.

Casuals are planning a coach trip to Bakewell for the last league game, hopefully finishing off with a win to cap a season markedly better than last season.