Tries: Rollings (3), Decae (2), Armstrong Holmes, Mills
Conv: Hughes (4)
With half the selected team dropping out through injury, childcare issues and being called in to point guns at criminal types and much one more disappointingly another just not turning up after confirming, Mods headed off late to Newark with only 16 cobbled together players, one with a broken elbow (we’ll call him Fandy Nitton, as he doesn’t want to incur the wrath of his missus if she found out he played...) let’s be honest though, we wouldn’t have it any other way!
We like nothing else than to mix it up a bit, so this week we decided that it was time we actually started playing well at roughly the same time as the referee decided to start the match! Some good work from the kick off and a Moderns player found himself in a massive gap 35 yards out with only the line in front of him... unfortunately that Moderns player was Burrows, but he made what yards he could before giving a great pass to Moderns’ new try machine Joeri to put a bow on the move.
Three more scores followed and with the bonus point secured in 20 minutes Moderns seemed to decide that the day’s work was done and promptly allowed Newark to get themselves back into the match. From one of these kick offs, James Armstrong Holmes, Member of the Bar, Number 8 about town and Rugby player since he was in knee high socks decided that the fella chasing him down was a bit mean looking for a 7 stone winger and so loudly and clearly yelled MARK! Not one player, spectator or referee did not stop for a split second to get their head around what they had just witnessed! This has been a season of notable comedy moments from a range of second team players, but this is surely a contender for moment of the season...
Halftime came and went and the words from ehem, visiting captain Fandy Nitton seemed to be going unheard as Newark scored two unanswered tries, aided by some defence softer than Burrows’ upper lip in mid November to really drag themselves back into the match. It was then that Moderns realised that they would lose if they didn’t pull their fingers out, and some clever territorial kicking allowed us to build pressure allowing Rollings to cross. But that wasn’t the end of it, and despite some dogged try line defence Newark crossed again, but they couldn’t get the conversion, and so were crucially 2 points behind with 7 minutes to go.
Moderns knew what needed to be done instantly though, and again some clever positional kicking, assisted by penalties as Newark’s frustration spilt over into indiscipline, we were able to force a Newark lineout on their own 5 metre line. Some excellent spoiling work from The excellent Jared at the lineout meant the clearance was sloppy, and Moderns had the chance to land the killer blow, the back three moving the ball across the pitch quickly allowing Winger Mills (this week minus his love bite) to cut inside and score what was to be the final try under the posts. The conversion by Hughes meant Newark needed two scores to win, but With 2 minutes left on the clock the game was finally won!
11 tries and some unseasonably warm weather meant it was a belter to watch, if not a little nervy to play in! It was a spirited but disjointed performance from a hastily assembled team who whilst they could never dominate the game managed to react at the key moments to pull off a win crucial for keeping the pressure on Ashbourne. With 2 games to go, It is all but certain that we will have a top three finish in the league which is a fantastic achievement considering we were only promoted last year – two more games to win though and winning the league is not beyond us!
Man of the match – Jared Allen – An excellent day in the lineout in both attack and defence backed up by some great support play around the park
Dick of the day – come on, you’ve just read the report haven’t you?! |