Agonisingly close, but Nuns Colts succumb to Old Laurents...

Nuneaton Colts entertained league leaders Old Laurentians on a blustery afternoon at Liberty Way.
Nuneaton had the advantage of the wind in the first half and had the best of the early stages, winning the physical battle with some powerful runs. A few opportunities came and went before the Nuns took the lead, with Ben Howells charging over from close range to score. The tough conversion was missed, and Nuneaton were ahead 5-0.

The game continued being played in the Old Laurents half, but Nuneaton couldn’t add to their slender lead. Old Laurents then started to come back into the game and looked to be in down the right wing before being stopped by a covering tackle from Ben Howells. The tackle was adjudged to be high by the referee who produced a yellow card and awarded a penalty. Old Laurents made use of their man advantage and scored from the next play to level the scores at 5-5.

Nuneaton were starting to get on the wrong side of the referee and went down to 13 men shortly before half time, with captain Sam Everett getting carded for appealing to the referee. Old Laurents went on the attack and scored near the posts to make the half time score 12-5 to the away side.

It was a tough task for Nuneaton in the second half playing against the wind, but they managed to weather the storm until they were back to their full 15 players. A visit to the Old Laurents’ 22 exerted some pressure and flanker James Fellows crashed over to score. Jack Jones levelled the scores from the tee – 12-12 with quarter of an hour to go.

Nuneaton remained on the attack in the opposition half but Old Laurents put in a big clearance kick down field and regathered the ball before cross kicking to the other wing to go over unopposed. The tricky conversion, helped by the following wind, went over and Old Laurents went in front by 19-12.

There wasn’t much time left, but Nuneaton continue to press for a try. Sam Everett made a good break on half way and ran into the Old Laurents 22, before being stopped 10 metres short. The play remained in the Old Laurents 22 and some slick passing from the backs resulted in centre Charlie Smith powering over to score with the last play of the game, taking the score to 17-19. A difficult conversion from near the touchline and against the wind fell agonisingly short and the final whistle went to see Old Laurentians emerge as the victors.
It was a tough result for Nuneaton, given the levels of effort and commitment the team put in, to come so close to beating one of the best teams in the league. Next up is another home game against Earlsdon on Saturday 20th October

Team
Will Howard, Lewis Jenkins, Jack Lander, Ben Howells, Oli Swietochowski, Jared Norton, James Fellows, Jack Coldrick, Jack Jones, Sam Everett, Brandon Wyatt, James Burgess, Charlie Smith, Morgan Jones, Nick Coltman
Subs: Morgan House, Jonny Gapelbe, Will McFerran, Charlie Molloy, Scott Chapman-Hall