Powergen Midlands 2 East

PAVIORS BLOWN AWAY!

KETTERING 57 – NOTTINGHAM PAVIORS 0
 
The rugby gods were certainly smiling at Waverley Road on Saturday as the home side completely outclassed their visitors from Nottingham, on a day when elsewhere in the country the rain fell heavily and an icy wind made life so difficult for players from all sports.  At Kettering, the sun shone and the rugby warmed the home players and spectators alike.

Paviors arrived in an optimistic mood, and looking to stay in the promotion hunt, but within 5 minutes their mood was changing as the Kettering forwards complete domination of the early scrummages resulted in Tom Bridgeman crashing through a wall of defenders to score the opening try of the game, which Tim Jones duly converted.

The home side, playing with the strong wind at their backs, continued to press home their advantage, and despite squandering a couple of further try scoring opportunities, extended their lead with a Jones penalty after 10 minutes.

The next score came, after 20 minutes, following a break by Ryan James who fed Nathan Satala, and the centre somehow managed to make it to the line despite the attention of a number of defenders.  Three minutes later it was James’ turn to score himself with a storming run from 25 metres out, which saw the Kettering captain beat several would be tacklers with Jones adding the extra points.

Despite totally dominating the rest of the half Kettering could add no further points to their total, and turned round to face the conditions with a comfortable, but not unassailable 22 point lead.

However, the home supporters need not have worried as their side continued to dominate proceedings in the second half, by playing a wide expansive game, with great support by forwards and backs, and it was no real surprise when after 8 minutes, centre Paul Gibson benefited from some fine running by his partner Satala, for the former to crash through under the posts, making Jones’ conversion a formality.

The next 20 minutes saw no further scores, but then in the final 15 minutes the scores came thick and fast as Kettering ran the ball at every opportunity and found holes in the Paviors defence, all over the park. The main beneficiary of this play, and his willingness the support every attack, was Jono ‘Stretch’ Barton, as he firstly was on the end of a 60-metre break involving numerous players, and then dived over from close range after further pressure on the Paviors line. Jones converted both scores.

The biggest cheer of the day, however, was reserved for former captain Martin Roberts, who was making his first 1st team start for over 2 years after serious injuries had kept him out, as the 2nd row burst through from 15-metres to score under the posts.  Jones’ conversion brought up the 50 points.

Then right on full time, Gibson burst through some non-existent tackling, for his 2nd and the sides 8th try of the game.  Jones again converted to bring his personal points tally to 17 in the game.

In this mood, Kettering are undoubtedly one of the best, and certainly most entertaining sides in this division, as can be seen by their points difference which is double any of the other teams in Midlands 2.  However, they need to find more consistency in their performance in the 2nd half of the season, to ensure that they get the opportunity to compete in Midlands 1 next season.

Raj Men of Match: The Whole Team!!!

The 2nd team travelled to unbeaten Leighton Buzzard 2nd’s and came away with a hard fought 12-0 win, in a game played in appalling conditions with players from both sides suffering from the bitterly cold wind and incessant freezing rain. Late changes saw seasonal debuts given to Kyle Hawkes, Ben Watts and William Nicholson.

Kettering had to defend well from the start, playing up the hill and against the atrocious conditions, but scored their first try after Gerry Slater gathered a cross-field kick and scored under posts for Andy Boath to convert. Despite spending the rest of the half under constant pressure, the visitors hung on and turned round 7-0 to the good. As the conditions worsened Kettering began to dominate and scored their 2nd try in the 68th minute, after one of the few passages of continuity saw Chris Chapman finish off a fine move.

At this point the referee offered to end the game early, due to the weather. Leighton Buzzard at first declined his offer, but when they could make no headway in the next few minutes, they conceded the game and everyone gratefully sought the comfort of the hot showers and clubhouse bar!!

Man of Match: Terry Pell

The 3rd and 4 th team games were both called off, whilst the 5th team travelled to AEI Rugby, and it was the home side who scored the only try of the game, which much more entertaining than the 5-0 scoreline suggests!

The Colts interests in the National Plate competition continue, as they won a very tight contest against a much fancied Ampthill side, 15-7, with tries from Cory Rainbow and Tom Binns, and a conversion and penalty from fly-half Bruce Keir.  They now travel to the winners of games between Derby, Syston and Northampton Old Scouts, sometime in January.

 

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