Skegness v Belper

JC Balls Belper 1st XV 18 v Skegness 1st XV 5

Belper made the long yet pleasant journey to Skegness with a half a team of regulars missing. On arriving at Skegness we realised that the shirts were still in Lincoln, however they were travelling at the speed of light (national speed limit applies of course). On getting to the pitch and starting our warm up, the referee introduced himself to us informing us that kick off was in 5 minutes, apparently in December kick offs are at 2pm. After some negotiation he agreed to let us have another 15 minutes warm up time. After 7 and a half minutes the game began.

Belper started with some venom and were quick to show Skegness that even when not fully warmed up we are a strong and tight unit. The Skegness forwards were a strong and physically bigger bunch, however the tenacity shown by the Belper forwards negated any advantage that they had. The whole game was a tight affair, with Skegness defending well. Skegness showed some dominance in the scrum winning a couple against the head, however once the front row gelled, they held Skegness firm.

The first score came from an altered lineout call, England took the ball at 4 and in the fray of players managed to get a sublime backwards pass out to his Skipper who ran through the Skegness defence to score to the side of the posts. Blount converted as Blount normally does.

The Belper backline looked as though it had purpose and some excellent running and support play ensured that Skegness had to work for whatever ball they did have.

The second half was much the same with Belper functioning as a complete unit, thwarting Skegness and making valuable yards at almost every turn. The second score came from Woz Hayward who made a decision to take a quick penalty and with some luck the person who scored was not held up.

Belper then put the game out of reach for Skegness with a penalty to make it 15 - 0. Skegness did not bow their heads and through some sloppy Belper defending were able to make a break and get themselves on the score sheet. Some strong play forced Skegness into a number of infringements, which the ref penalised and then so did Belper,18 - 5.

That was how it ended, Belper attacked and defended well throughout. All in all a cracking performance from a group who all put their bodies on the line. Special thanks to young debutant Keegan, who gave his all after replacing Hayward.

The 2nds also won 17 - 12 to make it a clean sweep, and tea and biscuits after the game were enthusiastically received by all

Next week, Castle Donington away, not sure what time kick off is, but we will aim for 2pm just in case.