Keyworth IIs edged at Tupton IIs by 17 12

Switching venues due to a still frost hardened pitch at Tupton Hall School, provided Keyworth with a wider pitch to utilise their running game but the strong tackling of the Tupton defence held out on sufficient occasions to guarantee them the spoils. The first half was an evenly matched affair with only the one score going to the home side when they capitalised on a Keyworth knock-on on their 22 and ran in the try to turn round 5 points to nil ahead.

On 47 minutes Keyworth scored the try of the game, a fine individual effort from Alex Tsang, playing at outside centre. From a ruck on the Keyworth 22, Sam Tilaks broke with just Tsangy and Tom Martin outside him. Drawing his man he fed Tsangy, who first threw an imperceptible dummy which was enough to provide him with a gap to race into and as the Tupton full-back, their best player on the day, rushed to fill the hole, young Alex neatly grubbered the ball past him as they entered the opposition 22. The ball bounced kindly and Tsangy gathered cleanly to score with the cover tackler in close attention. Sam Tilaks duly added the extra two points to give Keyworth the lead.

Tupton replied with two tries through their wily scrum half, the first from a quickly taken tap penalty 5m out from the visitors line which was converted on 55 minutes and again 7 minutes later when an otherthrown ball at a Keyworth lineout gave him an easy run in from less than 8m out. This gave the home side a 10 point lead as we entered the last quarter.

Keyworth gave it everything but were unable to force a victory. Their only reward coming through a well worked try. Aaron Browning, who had another superb game, but needs to stop playing the ball on the ground after the tackle, made two great incisive drives on his birthday to set up a ruck close to the Tupton line. When the ball came back, scrum-half Tilaks fed Tom Martin, who continues to improve and he drove through 2 defenders before reaching to touch down.

Unfortunately it wasn’t enough and Keyworth were left to rue what might have been. The high points, from a side that was riven with positional changes, included the debut of Matthew Ellis, who caught, ran and tackled well on the wing, coming on as a replacement for the ever reliable Zander Wiles. Jack Pitchfork was nominated as Keyworth’s Man of the Match by the Tupton skipper for his commitment when pressed into front row duties. Doug Martin continued to drive well when in possession until he was crushed when tackling the Tupton tight-head. I’m not saying he was big but he did have his own postcode. Captain Keith Scott, picked and went more times than he’s had the chance to all season and brother John commanded the front of the lineout. Matt Savage is developing well and with proving to be a valuable member of the side.

Tremendous commitment to the cause was once again shown by Felix Ng. Last week he flew in from Hong Kong. This week he commuted from Manchester to turn out and give his all. Jack Starr had an excellent performance in the loose, tackling everything and making driving runs as well as winning the middle of the lineout battle. In the backs, with all the re-arrangements, it was more difficult and Mark King and Jon Cooper did well despite the tight midfield defence of Tupton.

Next week, Keyworth have their first home game of 2012 against Mellish IIIs and a good turnout is needed at training this Tuesday down at the club to ensure that the team is in the right shape to get their season back on track.

Congratulations to the 1st XV who recorded an impressive 50 – 7 league win over Ollerton with Richard Johnson scoring 4 tries, repeating Jamie Birch’s feat from the previous week.