Physical Newbold fold under Nuns pressure...

After a couple of weeks without a game, the Nuneaton Colts returned to action with a solid win over a physical Newbold side. With original league opponents Stratford pulling out, a friendly against Newbold was arranged and it got off to the best possible start, as flanker James Fellows collected the opposition kick off and evaded 4 or 5 tackles before running it in to score his first try of the season. After the early set back, Newbold then enjoyed a period of sustained pressure inside the Nuneaton half, with their big forwards gaining yards. The Nuneaton defence was solid, but the pressure finally told as Newbold went over from close range to level the match, before taking the lead with a successful conversion.

Nuneaton then came back into the game to exert some pressure of their own, with captain Sam Everett breaching the Newbold defence to put Nuneaton ahead. The weather conditions made ball handling difficult, and the game was punctuated with lots of scrums, however just before half time a period of pressure in the Newbold 22 ended with some neat backs play to send centre Isaac Bailey over near the corner. The conversion was missed, and Nuneaton went into half-time leading 15-7.

In the second half Nuneaton took control of the game and were more cohesive in both attack and defence. Most of the half was spent in the Newbold half of the field, and Nuneaton scored their fourth try when scrum half Jack Jones picked from the base of a ruck and timed his pass beautifully to send prop Lewis Jenkins crashing through the defence to score.

Nuneaton were starting to dominate possession, with Oli Swietochowski stealing a number of Newbold line outs, and they scored again following a lovely midfield break. Centre James Burgess identified the space in behind the defence and sent through a well-weighted kick which bounced kindly for Sam Everett to latch on to and score under the posts. There might have been another score too, but Jack Coldrick agonisingly had the ball stripped from him in the act of touching down.

The game ended with a 27-7 victory for Nuneaton which was a good victory for the lads to take into their next league fixture, which is a testing home fixture against Broadstreet on Saturday 29 September.

Team
Jack Coldrick, Hayden Cottle, Lewis Jenkins, Oli Swietochowski, Alex Phillips, Charlie Molloy, James Fellows, George Harper, Jack Jones, Sam Everett, Brandon Wyatt, James Burgess, Isaac Bailey, Charlie Smith, Nick Coltman
Subs: Will Howard, Morgan House, Jared Norton, Johnny Gapelbe