Nailsea & Backwell 29 - Old Redcliffians 2nds 11
This game was a lot tougher than the end score suggests as Nailsea were never in the lead until 20 minutes to go.
When playing the second string of a National League outfit in Old Red's, it's often a lottery to see who you are playing against. The Nailsea players understood though that no matter how many Red's players with National League experience were playing, it was on them to raise their game. Satisfyingly, that is exactly what the Ravens players did.
Playing up the hill in the first half, the Ravens succumbed to a barrage of pressure which resulted in two penalties kicked by Old Reds Centre, Daniel Jones.
The response was swift and after putting together some nice passages of play, Luke 'Cuzzy' Caswell went in for the first of his four tries of the afternoon. The conversion was missed to make the score 5-6 at half time.
After conceding ten penalties in the first half, Captain Luke Sharp ensured his team knew that should the indiscipline continue it would be a long afternoon for the Ravens.
The second half started with Reds keeping the ball well with James Clements spotting a gap in the Nailsea defence to go over to extend their lead 5-11.
Nailsea then started to get some excellent territory with Joe Reed and Jamie Elswood kicking well which meant Nailsea were playing their rugby in the right areas of the pitch. From an attacking scrum Number 8, Caswell, picked up and ran in from the 22 metre line untouched. Shortly afterwards, following a yellow card for the Reds Scrum Half, the dominant Nailsea scrum meant Caswell crossed the line again for his hat trick. Conversions both missed to make the score 15-11.
With all the momentum with Nailsea, Dickie Palmer made a break from inside his own half to be dragged down a metre short of the try line. Caswell finished off the move with a fine pick and go. Josh Collins converted. Nailsea then scored the final try of the game. Following great hands, Ben Perfect offloaded to Ryan Barrow to score. Collins converted to finish 29-11.
Nailsea have a tough test next week against a strong Burnham-on-Sea side. Kick-off will be at 14:30 at West End Park.
Up The Ravens!!
