Keyworth IIs dominate Aylestone Athletic IIs to win 53 – 22

Within two minutes of the kick-off, winger Zander Wiles went over for his first try of the season to get the home side on their way, as he powered his way to the line from 5m and touched down despite the close attention of two defenders. From the kick-off, Luke Hartland gathered and burst through the Aylestone chasers, with only the full-back to beat he fell to the ground, victim of the Keyworth sniper, as his hamstring tore and the poor guy played no further part in proceedings, unfortunately. On ten minutes, Keyworth doubled their lead when Jack Starr, playing at outside centre, got over in the corner after some good handling amongst the Keyworth backs and forwards.

Thinking that they were in for an easy afternoon, Keyworth relaxed and their opponents needed no second invitation to let them know that they hadn’t just come to make up the numbers. Using their first decent piece of possession, their young backs shifted the ball swiftly to their right wing who outstripped the cover defence to score an excellent try in the corner, which was expertly converted by their outside half.

Stung by this, the 2nds rallied to run in a further 3 tries before the end of the half. The first of these went to Alex Tsang who crossed after good handling. Jack Starr got his second when he unbelievably managed to outpace the Aylestone defenders to race 65m to score. Next on the scoresheet was Jaron Leung who blasted his way through the visitors’ backline at pace and neatly sidestepped the full-back to run in from around 22m. Jack Starr, who had taken over the kicking duties once Sam Tilaks had been forced to retire with a bang to the head, drop-kicked the conversion.

Keyworth’s pack had once again laid the foundation for this 27 – 7 lead at the interval, by their dominance in the set piece phases of the game. For the last part of the first half and for the entire second period, Keyworth generously lent Aylestone a front row forward, when one of the Leicestershire forwards turned an ankle and was unable to continue.

First score of the second half went to the Athletic IIs who cut the deficit by 7, when their No. 8 broke through several tackles to run to the line from a tapped penalty on the Keyworth 22m line. The response wasn’t exactly immediate but it did come. On 55 minutes, Alex Tsang took a ball on his 22 and jinked his way along this line, evading attackers before feeding Man of the Match, Aaron Browning who sprinted away to score from a full 75m out. Jack Starr added the extra two points. Shortly after, it was Tsangy’s turn to collect his brace when he went over after good approach work by Lee Broadhead. Jack Starr, popped over his third conversion to give Keyworth a 41 – 14 lead.

This was extended even further when Jaron Leung also went over for his second try of the game, showing great pace and determination. Aylestone to their eternal credit, kept trying and ran the ball at every opportunity they had, with their backs and No. 8 prominent. Their reward came in the unusual shape of an opportunistic drop goal by their full-back, from out wide on the Keyworth 22. Not the prettiest ever seen but great to see at this level of the game and they followed this with another try from their solid centre who reminded Keyworth how fragile their defence can be on occasions, as he broke several tackles.

Last knockings went to Keyworth, through a rampaging Hightower, who bullied his way over from around 10m out and Jack Starr added the two points to take his tally for the day to 18 and for Keyworth to run out worthy winners at 53 – 22. A great game all round, played by two sides committed to running rugby, enjoyed by spectators and players alike. Best not to mention the decision making of the dodgy official who certainly favoured the boys in blue, enabling them to secure more possession than they might otherwise have enjoyed.

Special mention must go to Jason Holland for horrendous miss of the day! Desperate to get his name on the scoresheet, Jason had made several attempts to cross the whitewash and eventually did so, only to drop the ball from his outstretched hand when he went to touchdown. Jug avoidance it probably wasn’t. Calamity Jason it certainly was!

Others determined to score but not able on this occasion to do so, were Felix Ng, who had several charging runs but always got tackled before the line and Keith and John Scott, who both found themselves with an opportunity but it wasn’t to be. Big thanks to Rob Severn who played the entire second half for Aylestone Athletic and to Adam Budgen who played part of the first half for the visitors. Both had a stabilising effect on the beleaguered Aylestone scrum. Neil Shanks caught well and had some solid runs. Jack Pitchfork played wherever he was asked and had one cracking run. Doug Martin continues to improve, tackling and carrying well. Mark Scott and Adam Waldron both also carried strongly and led the counter-rucking on many occasions.

A good win for Keyworth IIs, their 13th of the season. Next week they return to league action, which continues to the end of the season, with a short trip to Holme Pierrepont to take on Nottinghamians IIs. All players are reminded to check the website and FB pages for match details and to confirm their availability.