Nottingham Casuals 1XV, Saturday 12^th January, Home, Lost 3-13

For the second week in a row, Nottingham Casuals visited Victory Road, this time with a place in the last 16 of the National Junior Vase at stake.

Following a well deserved league win against the same opposition 7 days earlier, Royces looked forward to doing battle but yet again, inconsistency in availability led to 7 changes in the squad from last week.

The match started in almost identical circumstances to the week previous. Royces dominating at both scrum and lineout but Casuals strong kicking game pinning Royces back into their own 22 almost immediately. In the first defensive scrum on their own line, Royces drove Casuals off the ball only for the ball to squirt out and a Casuals back able to squeeze in at the corner. Conversion missed.

The remainder of the 1^st half was played out with numerous errors from both sides in the greasy conditions and with Royces squandering chances in the opposition 22 and failing to turn good pressure and field position into points. The Casuals No 9 (playing at 10) adding a penalty to extend their lead to 8 points.

Play was halted for 25 minutes whilst paramedics saw to the Casuals loose head who went down with a broken leg. Best wishes go to him for a full and swift recovery.

The 2^nd half was much the same, with both sides having opportunities but a combination of good defence and basic errors resulting in the only score, prior to the last 10 minutes of the game, coming from the boot of Royces skipper Paul McLaughlin. Royces now trailing 3-8.

With time running out and Royces finally realising what was at stake in this match they upped their efforts and skill levels and created chance after chance in the Casuals 22. Yet another error in the under pressure Casuals defence led to a scrum 5m for Royces, their pack chomping at the bit for an opportunity to turn the screw on the rapidly deteriorating Casuals scrum. Royces put in yet another controlled yet uncompromising drive and took the fragmented Casuals pack back over their own line. No.8 Dan Sanderson controlling the ball and falling on it over the Casuals line, 5 metrrs to the right of the Casuals posts. To the total disbelief of all watching, the referee disallowed the try. From the re-set 5-meter scrum, a crooked feed was given against Royces, allowing Casuals to clear their lines and head up field to the Royces 22. With time running out and Royces running the ball from everywhere, a mis thrown pass allowed Casuals to get their 2^nd try of the match in the final seconds making the final score Royces 3 v Casuals 13.

Casuals progress to the last 16 of the National Junior Vase, all the best to them for the next round, it would be good to see a team from Midlands 5 East (North) go all the way to the final.

Royces get back to league action next week away to Melbourne who are currently on a poor run of results. A great opportunity for the team to show how far they’ve progressed this season and to build on the positives from the last 2 week’s performances.

Team: Paul McLaughlin, Ed Barker, Paul Hill, Jon Peacock, Terry Smith, Lawrence Betty, Jonny Burrell, Iwan Ranft, Luke Daigneault, Alex King, Nick Golding, Malcolm Lee, Sandy Thom, Alex Gill, Dan Sanderson.

Subs: James Gormley, Sean McNamara, Ady Gregory