Burton @ Nottingham on January 13th 2008

Game 1: Nottingham A 50 v Burton Eagles 20

This was always going to be a test of the Eagles steel.  Nottingham fielded 2 teams from a squad of over 50 and the first game were against Nottingham’s A team.  The game began with a flurry of tries, Joshua Hart ran in the 1st after a passing move involving William Hulbert, Charlie Quarterman and Jamie Dutton. 

Nottingham levelled before Joshua Hart scored his 2nd from a magnificent run straight through the heart of the Notts defence.  Again Nottingham soon levelled despite the defensive efforts of Daniel Grimsdell, Alex Dutoy and Connor Wood.  A pattern began to emerge as the Eagles were excellent in open play, they passed and ran the ball as directly as ever, however, they were turning ball over when play broke down and Nottingham were imposing themselves in the rook (I thought it was rugby not chess, webmaster).  Nottingham soon took advantage of this and scored two tries following rooks on the Eagles score line.  An excellent last ditch tackle by Jacob Buxton stopped Notts going further ahead. 

Once more Eagles took advantage of their capacity to score through open play and Joshua Hart scored two more excellent tries to level.  The first followed a great run and pass from Daniel Grimsdell and the second a solo effort after Calum Launchbury and Joel Dolman broke up a Notts offensive move.  The scores were level at half time but there were signs of concern as Nottingham were dominant in the rook.

With the strong wind behind them and their capacity to rook Burton off the ball, Nottingham were dominant in the second half.  The Eagles stood their ground and tackled hard. However, Notts came up with loose ball time and time again.  Notts added their 5th try despite the efforts of Joel Dolman and Jamie Dutton on the Burton line.  This opened the floodgates and tries came thick and fast.  Nottingham ran and mauled the ball up field, Eagles tackled to a man to keep them out, loose ball Nottingham dominance in the rook and the inevitable try.  When the ball came out Burton’s side the momentum was with always with Nottingham and the Eagles were forced backwards and in to passing errors.  At times it looked as if the Eagles were up against ‘ten’ men as decisions started stacking against them.  However, Nottingham scored 6 second half tries and well deserved their 50-20 victory. 

Eagles man of the match: Joshua Hart (4 excellent tries and endless tackles in the 2nd half).

Game 2:    Nottingham B 0 v Burton Eagles 60

The second game against the Nottingham B team was a very different story from the first game.  The Eagles once more showed their capacity to lift themselves and display great team spirit.  With the wind behind them Eagles were dominant from the whistle.  A great running passing move involving Tommy Collingwood, Sam Willets and William Hulbert opened up the Notts defence.  Jonathon Kingston picked up the ball 10 meters out and no one was going to stop him from scoring. 

When Notts came forward they were knocked backwards by the Eagles defensive tackles.  Nadan Cox and Alex Dutoy broke up another move and a sweeping passing move involving Calum Launchbury, Charlie Quarterman and the ever impressive Sam Willetts opend the way for Jacob Buxton to score the 2nd.  Joshua Hart added the next 2 Eagles tries the second following a massive tackle from Connor Wood and the quick mindedness of Euan Johnson who picked up loose ball and passed to Joshua. 

Jacob Buxton scored the next try with a superb run through the Notts defensive line supported by Daniel Grimsdell and Jamie Dutton.  Tommy Collingwood scored the 6th with another bruising charge through the Notts defence.  Sam Willets scored the last try with a determined solo run and support from Calum Launchbury and Alex Dutoy in the centre.  Eagles were 35 points up at the half time whistle.

If Notts thought wind against the Eagles was going to slow the scoring down they were sadly mistaken. The very first move of the second half saw Tommy Collingwood and Nadan Cox move the ball forward.  Alex Dutoy took a good pass and the Eagles mauled the ball up field. The pressure was to much for Notts and Jonathon Kingston was available to finish the move and score his 2nd try.  Joshua Hart was not to be found wanting when he picked up a pass from William Hulbert and ran in the 9th. 

Straight from the restart a great tackle from Sam Willets spilt the ball 10 metres from the Burton line, Calum Launchbury picked up the loose ball and ran the ball in.  Nadan Cox, Connor Wood and Charlie Quarterman combined to open the defence for Joshua Hart to score his 4th and Sam Willetts scored the final try after a quick passing move involving Jamie Dutton, Joel Dolman and Connor Wood.

Eagles man of the match: Sam Willets (awesome in the tackle and recycled himself time and time again).

Eagles man of the series: Joshua Hart (8 tries and endless tackles).

Special Mention: the whole of the Eagles squad lifted themselves after the first game.  The rook improved in the second game, however, the coaches will have them working hard on the element of the game during training sessions.  The overall effort and team spirit was very encouraging.  Commitment in the tackle and the desire to support one another, even under massive pressure, can not be faulted and deserves a mention. 

Game.3:         Nottingham 0 v Burton Falcons 40

Unlike Burton, Nottingham certainly appeared to operate a first team and a seconds/development team. Falcons found themselves up against the latter in their first game of the morning.

Falcons dominated the match from start to finish with some fine running and off-loading work from James North, Dominic Phillips, Jacob Abraham and Josh Wright. Jacob Abraham, as always, worked with ferocity putting in many tackles as did James North, Dominic Phillips, Josh Suddaby, Craig Plummer and John Robson.

Cameron Scobie worked hard with some fine tackling, driving and set-up play. Josh Suddaby worked like a trojan putting in strong tackles and using his strength to drive forward. Luke Greenhill was also noticeable for his support in the ruck with some strong driving over. James North quickly racked up his first half hat-trick – just reward for his usual hard work and effort. Craig Plummer managed to break his duck, picking up 10 yards from the try line to record the fourth try of the half.

The second half saw the Falcons continue to dominate. Oliver Corbett went over followed by Dominic Phillips, having latched onto a superb pass from James North. Then another duck was broken by Lewis Kenney who finished off a lovely move to run in from 20 yards. Craig Plummer finished the scoring close to the final whistle with a strong drive to cross the try line for his second of the game.

Falcons Man of the match: Josh Suddaby

Game.4:         Nottingham 15 v Burton Falcons 15

The lad’s second game of the morning was a total different affair coming up against a very organised strong team. To their credit, the Falcons matched Nottingham’s first team man for man and in doing so, produced a performance to be proud of.

Falcons scored first with Lewis Kenney, having found his appetite for try scoring in the first game. Kenney went over to complete a superb sequence of inter-play which seemed to involve the whole team. Nottingham were soon on level terms however, making the score one try each at half-time.

Excellent handling in the cold, wet conditions was evident from Jacob Abraham and Cameron Scobie with some low pick-ups of the ball while on the run. Strong work on the attack from Luke Greenhill, Lewis Kenney and Josh Wright kept the ball in Nottingham’s half for long periods. When on the defensive, John Robson, Josh Suddaby and Oliver Corbett were outstanding.

Both James North and Dominic Phillips covered every inch of the pitch banging in tackle after tackle. Special mention must be made of Phillip’s cross-field chase of the Nottingham runner; there was never any doubt that the ball carrier was about to bite the dust as soon as Phillips launched himself, full length into a superb text book, flying tackle.

This fully committed, aggressive attitude summed up the way both teams approached the game. Falcons were to score another two tries second half through the redoubtable pair of Phillips and James North. Nottingham were to reply with two further tries of their own, the last catching Burton off guard – a score which would have usually been prevented. Alas, the Falcons were denied victory mainly due to this momentary lapse in concentration. A draw was widely accepted as a fair result for both teams who put in equal measures of effort and aggression to produce the most entertaining game of the season thus far.

The final word went to Nottingham’s coach when he commented that the encounter had been Nottingham’s toughest this season. Well done to all Falcons – any excellent effort in difficult conditions against very good opposition!

Falcons Man of the match: Dominic Phillips

Falcons Man of the series: Oliver Corbett