Nottingham Casuals 2nd XV first win of season

Casuals hadn’t beaten Bingham in too long and with last season’s home defeat still in the memory of those who were there, today was as important fixture as we’d had all season.

Casuals started well and won an early penalty in range but Kingy’s kick was blown off course by the wind. 2 more penalty chances came soon after, both which Kingy smashed through the uprights.

Casuals spent most of the 1st half in Bingham’s, the tail wind assisting in this. The forwards battled on but Casuals couldn’t find a hole in the Bingham defence. The backs were guilty of a few mistakes also. Bingham got 2 kicks back to square the scores.

Constant pressure however almost paid off, Kingy picking up off the base of a breakdown and pushing over the line. The ball however was knocked on.

Casuals tried to put a frustrating 1st half behind them and took the game to Bingham in the 2nd half. Good line breaks by Rex and Joe meant Casuals were on the front foot, but, the backs couldn’t capitalise, poor passing to blame in too many cases. There were also a lot of penalties and infringements awarded against both sides by the referee throughout the game.

Finally Joe Barton smashed through and got the only try of the game. Kingy converted from a tough angle.

Casuals fought on, Bingham were camped in the Casuals 22 for a dangerous period but the defence held. A Bingham penalty on the edge of the Casuals 22 could have bought the scores to 13-12, but the ball bounced off the post and finally bounced to Casuals player to clear. A last gasp tackle from full back Josh Slack saved the day also.

Steve’s cameo was a good one after coming on at outside centre, we’ll look forward to seeing him down at Casuals next season.

Final whistle and celebrations all round for a hard day at the office. Not the performance, but certainly the right result.

To improve the mood even more so, the news this seasons tour is planned for April 1st 2011 was another cause for celebration.

The day ended on a sour note though as news ‘Hamians, Casual 3rd XV opposition, had their valuables bag stolen by someone. A cold reminder of the kind of scumbags in this world and a harsh lesson on match day security for us all. Hopefully, the police catch up with him, or the ‘Hamians front row.

Mellish away next week.

Tries
Joe Barton (Also Man of the match)

Conv
Kingy

Pens
Kingy (2)