Newbold 5 Nuneaton 43

The Nuns kicked off the second half of the season with a well earned 43-5 win over Newbold on Saturday. The damage was done in the first half with the Nuns scoring five tries and then adding two in the second half. Tries came from Martin Wood, Todd Bullions, Tom Smitham, James Lloyd, Travis Bennett-Allcock and two for Ben Dawes. Lucas Brindley added four conversions. Both sides shared plenty of knowledge of each other with Fin Aherne on loan at Newbold as well as former players Phil Reed and Kris McFredies in the backs. When we met at the start of the season Ben Dawes was packing down for Newbold but made the switch the week later and he and Nick Walton are both previous Captains for them.

The Nuns got on the front foot from the start of the game and were relentless for the first 35 minutes.

Martin Wood was first to score on 5 minutes. An early penalty was sent to the corner and he was carried over by the pack from the lineout catch and drive, Brindley’s conversion hit the post and went wide.

On 12 minutes and after more pressure Ben Dawes scurried over from a 5m tap penalty for his first try of the game with the conversion added, 12-0. In the build up to this Newbold’s winger was sin binned for a deliberate knock on.

The Nuns continued to dominate possession and territory and on 21 minutes Todd Bullions was awarded a try after another lineout catch and drive which Brindley upgraded to lead 19-0. As one home winger was about to return to play the other was sin binned for a similar offence.
The bonus point try came on 24 minutes with Dawes adding his second. From another lineout catch and drive that went to ground Dawes picked and went to bury over again with the conversion added it was 26 minutes.

Tom Smitham was next to cross for the Nuns. Having got deep into the hosts 22m a penalty was awarded. Scrum was the choice, and when Wood was felled just short of the line Smitham dummied and went under the posts for a fifth, converted, try of the half. 33-0 after 35 minutes.

The Nuns were reduced to 14 themselves on 37 minutes when Ryan Preston was adjudged to have made a high tackle when both players could have caught the ball and collided.

To their credit Newbold came back at the end of the half and after some strong carries, Ben Nuttall crossed leaving the score 5-33 at the whistle.

A couple of minutes after the restart the game had a long pause for an injury to Newbold’s Nuttall. Gladly, after this he was able to leave the pitch but the game became scrappy and disjointed.

The Nuns got their next score on 46 minutes. After some pressure the ball was moved down the short side and Lloyd touched down in the corner, 38-5. In the build up to this the hosts received a third yellow card for a break down infringement by one of their back row.

The next, and last, points of the game came in the 64th minute. From some continued pressure and then a scrum that went nearly 15m towards the line the Nuns were awarded and advantage. A cross field kick from Max Carter was gathered by Travis Bennett-Allcock to score out wide. The conversion was missed into a strong wind but took the lead to 43-5.

As the conditions got worse the Nuns missed out on extending their lead but Newbold can be commended as they didn’t give up and tackled to the end. The Nuns also collected a second yellow card this time for Nick Walton.

Attention now turns to the visit of league leaders Northampton Old Scouts. When the two sides met earlier in the season the Nuns were denied a victory when a last kick of the game penalty struck the post.

Head Coach Huw Thomas’s thoughts “I’m really happy to pick up another 5 league points today. First half we were very dominant and clinical in everything we did. The game lost momentum after the injury break second half but we still scored a couple of nice tries and also kept Newbold out even though they had the elements with them.”

1 James Redman 2 Augy Clarke 3 Ben Dawes 4 Nick Walton 5 Tom Aherne 6 James Lloyd 7 Todd Bullions 8 Martin Wood 9 Tom Smitham 10 Lucas Brindley 11 Travis Bennett-Allcock 12 Tom Eales 13 Ryan Preston 14 Takudzwa Chawadya 15 Stewart Davies; 16 Toby Dearden 17 George Wallis 18 Max Carter