 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Nottingham | 12 - 0 | Doncaster Knights |
|
|
|
| Meadow Lane on 02/12/2005 19:30:00 | ||
| Further Information on Nottingham: Notts County FC Ground |
||
Disappointing night out! As if missing John Cannon, Brad Hunt and Michael Wood with injuries, and Russell Earnshaw to the Dubai Sevens, wasn’t enough Friday night at Nottingham got worse still when Charlie Harrison got held up in the awful M1 traffic and failed to arrive for kick off at a squally, muddy Beeston where the floodlights were inadequate and there was no hot water for the showers! Few folk realised the late change to the line up with young Dan Storey starting at scrum half as the PA system also failed to work, as did the scoreboard clock after the interval. It may have once been a fine ground but Beeston is long past its sell by date now! A game of two halves is best described by the statistic that said that before the interval Nottingham spent 33 minutes in the Doncaster half (during which they scored three penalties and a drop goal); but in the second half, Doncaster spent 32 minutes in the Green’s half but couldn’t score a point. The difference was the defensive discipline of the home side who conceded few penalties under pressure, and the respite they got from time to time from a set of backs who ran at angles from deep and who were only denied tries by three outstanding defensive tackles by Steve Meyer who was the Penalties by Neil Stenhouse on 4,26 & 40 minutes, plus an incredible drop goal from the touchline by Ben Thompson after Storey’s clearance kick failed to find touch, wrapped up the scoring on a night of no tries although Doncaster will wonder how their dominant mauling pack failed to get the ball over the line on at least four occasions- and several others when the maul was collapsed by Nottingham – usually by the clever Craig Hammond who managed to avoid the referee’s radar -when close to the line (without penalty – unlike two at the other end that were both penalised and saw Glen Kenworthy sent to the sin bin!) and slow ball to a blunt back line never looked like being productive against a strong Notts defence. Doncaster will have been very pleased with the perfect line out on the night, which also stole four of their opponents’ throws, as well as the excellent maul but Pieter Muller will have to do something to sharpen a back line that never threatened until Rob Liley appeared for the last few minutes to inject some thrust – but even that told the story of the night. The field clock had started 20 minutes late after the interval and the team management timed Liley’s appearance assuming there were still 20 minutes to go. Pertemps Bees come to Referee: L ApGeraint-Roberts (RFU) |
||
|
||
 |
||
