Keyworth IIs 52 Nottinghamians IIs 0

Hamians arrived with 13 players and lacking a full front row. Keyworth had a full squad and donated two players to the visitor’s cause for the duration of the game. Steve Thornhill turned up looking for 20 minutes in a Keyworth shirt and found himself wearing purple for the entire 80 minutes, an absolutely magnificent contribution! If Steve hadn’t made this sacrifice the game would have been subject to the sterile scenario of uncontested scrums, which would have not favoured Keyworth’s strong scrummaging base and often leads to problems as the forwards on both sides find other ways of releasing the energy and aggression that they would normally devote to the scum. Equally big thanks must go to Darryl Jones and Doug Martin who each played a half in opposition colours without argument or rancour. The bonus for them was that they both got an increased amount of game time.

Keyworth had the benefit, or so they thought, of the windy conditions in the first half. However, they failed to come to terms with them and for the first 30 minutes or so found countless ways to fail to score, often when this was by far the harder option. More knock-ons and dropped passes than you could shake a stick at, fantastic defence by Nottinghamians and a plethora of penalties against them all conspired to keep the Hamians line intact. In fact, at one point, Keyworth actually asked the visitors’ skipper if he’d hidden the try line somewhere where Keyworth couldn’t find it?

The breakthrough came when Sam Tilaks kicked a well struck penalty after Nottinghamians were penalised for offside in midfield. This lifted the home side, who had started to believe that they might never score. After a couple of well-timed substitutions, Tom Martin, with his first touch of the ball, cut back in from his wing to cross after good work by the backs. This was Tom’s first try for the club and also his best game to date as he ran well throughout the remainder of the match.

Having broken the seal of the Nottinghamians line, Keyworth added two more tries before half-time to lead 20 – 0 at the break. The first of these came from sniping Sam Tilaks, off the back of a 5m scrum after Aaron Browning had been held up over the line and the second from Sean Crowe. Sam converted his own try. The half-time score did little justice to the effort of Hamians who had kept Keyworth at bay for almost the entire half with a resolute defensive effort and attacking whenever they got possession.

With the wind in their faces, Keyworth IIs actually found their handling skills and ran in a further 6 second half tries, much to the delight of the 1st XV players who had kindly come along to support the 2nds. The first of these was an absolute beaut! From a scrum on their own 10m line, Tilaks fed JP Disney in the centre who then put Alex Tsang away to race 45m down the touchline, outstripping the defence to score in the corner. Nobody was more pleased than Tsangy, who up until then had been in need of medical attention for a severe case of ‘dropsy’ throughout the first half.

Jack Starr got the next try after picking the ball of his toes and making the 15m to the line. Sean Crowe got his second, showing great individual skill, which Mark King took great delight in converting. Mark then added a try to his tally as he barged his way through would-be defenders. At this point, the triumphant return of Simon Batchelor after weeks off for knee surgery, came to an abrupt end as the referee showed him the yellow card for some foul-mouthed ‘banter’ with fellow Keyworthian, Steve Thornhill.

Tsangy got his second, from one metre out after Josh Mullins had done all the hard work and the final try was probably the best of the bunch. Ed Smith, who worked tirelessly throughout, broke out of defence, 10m from his own line and raced through the Hamians ranks. The crowd and his team mates willed him on but he was overhauled after about 70m. He managed to flip the ball up to one of 4 supporting runners and it was Sam Tilaks who grabbed his second try to appropriately round things off and get the Man of the Match award.

A great win for Keyworth, eventually and thanks must go to Hamians for playing their part and for fulfilling the fixture. 8 wins from 10 starts this season and 63 tries are statistics that don’t tell the story behind how much this team enjoy playing for captain Keith Scott. The balance in the side continues to work well and we are seeing the younger players being given opportunities to represent the club in the 1st XV. Next week will see Sam Tilaks and Jack Starr given their chance to shine at a more rarified level and everyone in the seconds wishes them well.

There were several other good all-round performances in the match. Aaron Browning had another great game at the back, running the ball out of defence with pace, power and aggression. Felix Ng at hooker played well in both tight and the loose. He pinched several against the head and his line-out throwing on a difficult day was of the highest order. Wayne Jowett was magnificent for the 5 minutes he survived before his hamstring went again. That’s the problem with these highly tuned athletes, they can be so tempremental! Mark Scott did a sterling job slotting into the front row to cover Wayne and the ever-present James Maddock was as strong and reliable as always. John Scott ruled the lineout, as is reported on a weekly basis and Zander Wiles stood out on the wing. Mullins and Disney were solid defensively in midfield and worked out their alignment and passing to great effect in the second period.

Next Saturday’s details are at present unknown, other than the fact that if there is a game it will be away. The seconds are seeking a pool fixture and players will be kept informed via the Facebook page, the club website and text messaging. Ah, the wonders of modern technology!