Moderns travelled the short distance to Beeston to take on a Casuals side level on points in the league. The weather was much more conducive to open rugby without the gale force wind that has accompanied rugby on the last two Saturday afternoons. Moderns knew this was going to be a stiffer test than the 95 point mauling of Kesteven last week and it proved to be. Casuals won the toss and without a breath of wind chose the only advantage which was to make Moderns play into the sun. The game kicked off and immediately a good move through the backs saw Dan Glynn accelerate through a gap at centre to race 50m up field. The move broke down after a couple of phases and we had the first of many scrums. Casuals had a clear game plan with pick and go the order of the day and they began to rumble up the pitch until the ball became unplayable and we had another scrum. Moderns began to work their ‘pistons’ and looked dangerous. Crandley, Glynn and Pascoe carried the ball effectively and only some good defence and less than accurate handling kept Moderns out. Casuals were the first to score as a hole appeared in the Moderns backline and some good hands brought the first try for their 13. Possibly against the run of play, you’d think this would have shaken Moderns into life but unfortunately for the time being it didn’t. Casuals were quick to seize on a spilled ball and they were in again shortly afterwards. This finally had the desired effect and as Moderns put phases together, playing structured rugby, this sucked in defenders and allowed Dan Glynn (who was clearly enjoying these wide open spaces) to romp in at the corner. Gaunt converted and we were back in it. The play ebbed and flowed with mistakes contributed from each side until Casuals got their act together and their scrum half scampered over. The talk under the sticks was simply to put this right and subsequently we went up the other end were awarded a penalty. The decision was to kick for the corner, catch and drive. Pope rose like a salmon at two, the forwards converged and trundled towards the line. Casuals dropped the maul and Brad making his debut at scrum half dived over. That was the final act of the first half and we went into the break trailing 15-12. Structure and more aggression were called for and straight from the Moderns kickoff a second debutant, Ryan (who looks a good acquisition for the club) at hooker, absolutely pole-axed the catching Casuals 2nd row. Moderns began to get into their stride and gaps started to appear in the Casuals defence. Fitton made a couple of breaks at 10 and Woody slipped through at 12 on more than one occasion. Given a solid platform by the forwards, Moderns began to work the ball wide and as the handling got slicker the pressure mounted for Casuals. First to score was Gaunt who strode through the defence to touch down and put us ahead for the first time. He converted his own try and we set about achieving the try bonus point. Throughout the second half we continued to test the Casuals defence and only dropped and misplaced passes stopped the scoreboard ticking over. This passage of play lent itself to the DOTD award for Mr Ed Clark, whilst having a very good game elsewhere, contrived to drop an absolute dolly on the line. With the game coming towards a close, it looked like Moderns may have missed their chance until Woody (now playing at 10), went through a gap on the 22 and steamed over. Gaunt again added the extras and that was the last score. Overall it was a bit of a rusty performance (particularly 1st half), however, we showed we could raise our game again and put the opposition to bed. Credit to Casuals for playing their game effectively and I’m sure they will be chasing us all the way in the league this year. Man of the Match - Dan Glynn who was absolutely everywhere on the pitch and rounded it off with a good try. DOTD – errr….Ed Clark
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