Keyworth IIs go down at the home of the Nomads

Playing down the considerable slope, Aaron Browning opened the scoring after only 4 minutes when he and Luke Hartland chased a kick ahead, putting pressure on the defence, with Aaron gathering and crossing the whitewash. Sam Tilaks was unable to add the extra points in the windy conditions.

The Nomads didn’t take long to get straight back into the game and five minutes later had levelled the score when their No. 8 was able to drive over after a 5m scrum. Melton, despite playing uphill, had most of the territorial advantage in the first half, astutely using the wind to kick long and pin the visitors back. They added a further three tries in the first half as Keyworth struggled to compete against their 16 men. It was 24 – 8 at the break as Sam Tilaks added a penalty on the 40 minute mark.

The second half was a more even affair. Melton extended their lead after a well worked catch and drive at the lineout, saw one of their forwards peel off and drive over from about 10m. Keyworth responded in a similar fashion when Jack Starr took a great middle lineout ball, 5m out and from the resultant drive, it was father Starr who emerged smiling from the bottom of the pile. The final score came in the last 5 minutes when Melton’s centre was able to cross as a result of very poor tackling by Keyworth.

Not a great deal to cheer about in this lacklustre performance, in stark contrast to the efforts of the previous week. Keyworth’s best player award goes to Tom Bradshaw, pressed into service at tight head, he stuck manfully to the task all afternoon, against much heavier opponents, without complaint. Sheeny and Felix also did well in the tight and contributed to Keyworth ruling the lineout, with John Scott denying Melton any ball at all at the front and Jack Starr taking more than his share in the middle. Young Doug Martin put in another improving performance and with Starry, gave great impetus to the 2nd row in the last few scummages of the game.

In the backs, Kingy and Luke had limited opportunities but ran hard when given the chance, as did Tsangy and Zander on the wings. With a final Security Plus Pennant match against second place Tupton next week, we will need to see a much improved defensive and disciplined performance if the seconds are going to finish the season on a high.

All 2nd XV players need to confirm their availability for next Saturday’s game either by text to Starry or on the Facebook page. It’s a 3pm kick-off and players must be at the club for 2pm in order to prepare for this key fixture.