Notts, Lincs & Derbys Under-13 Shield Final
Kesteven 10
Southwell 29
Kesteven entered their fifth consecutive NLD Shield Final knowing they were in for a tough encounter last Sunday.
The Black Army fired straight out of the blocks and took the play to their burly opponents with pace and aggression and dominated the opening period with some superbly controlled play. Although outgunned in terms of size, the forwards continually dominated the set piece and possession was secured consistently at scrum and lineout.
Southwell however were able to take advantage in loose play and turned over an early ruck to score an opening try.
Kesteven secured possession to their backs allowing Tom Edwards to kick through to behind the defence and enable Jack Plain to dive on to the loose ball and even the score. Continued Southwell pressure saw them score a second try late in the first half.
Southwell started strongly in the second half and increased their try count to three before hooker Harry Cox wrestled the ball within a few metres of the Southwell try line, allowing scrum half Devlin Archer to release his backs who displayed a beautiful passing movement to give Palin his second try of the match.
The score remained close until the last two moves of the game. With Kesteven exhausted from the physical encounter, Southwell extended their lead to seal victory.
Kesteven under-13s are from left, back – coaches Dave Hodgson, Glyn Cox, Angus Shaw and Tom Price; middle – Zak Spriggs, Ben Cole, James Cole, Mattie Dixon, Jack Plain, Josh Kwasau, Curtis Taylor, Josh Peters, Jacob Hughes. Harry Cox, Dan Brenton, Harvey Fuller, George Wainwright, Finley Moth, Tom Edwards and Davey Hodgson; front row – Lochlan Parr, Toby Tapson, Devlin Archer, Sponsor Robert Holland, Adam Tapson, Alex Rogerson and Patrick Sheard.
Under-16
Kesteven 31
Cambridge 26
Kesteven hosted Cambridge in what turned out to be the game of the season.
Cambridge took an early lead with a well executed switch after Kesteven were unable to clear their lines from the kick off.
Ks replied when Pirie went over for a try with a great body swerve, side stepping the last player. Grinney kicked the conversion to level the scores.
A few minutes later following a great kick to the corner from Grinney, Pirie managed to sneak through the Cambridge defence for his second try. Grinney added the extra points.
Addlesse went over for a third try and Grinney converted once more to put Kesteven 21-7 up at the break.
The second half saw Kesteven in Cambridge’s 22 for a good period of time but could not breach the defence. Clearing their lines, Cambridge went over under the posts from a well worked passing phase.
Kesteven pressure once again and White spotted a gap on the line, ducked down low and went over for a fourth try.
Cambridge responded with two quick tries to level the scores at 26-26.
With only a few minutes left, Ks kept piling on the pressure on Cambridge’s defence, and Tank saw an opening to go over for the winning try.
Kesteven: Adams, B. Addlesee, J. Addlesee, Allen, Barker, Bloodworth, Bosworth, Cartwright, Cole, Danford, Fletcher, Fleming, Grinney, Peters, Pirie, Ryder, Shennan, Singer, Stewart, White.