Kesteven travelled to Sommercotes to face a table topping Amber Valley side full of confidence from an opening five match unbeaten streak. Matches with the opposition do tend to be fairly attritional affairs.

Kesteven welcomed Tony Wollerton and Chris Jinks back into the ranks for their first outings of the season. The Black Army's form suggested that improvements have been made this season. Good performances against other leauge front runners and a win against lowly Southwell in their last outing filled the Kesteven players with confidence before kick off. However, good performances need to be matched with good results. This was the time to deliver.

The K's started positively from the kick off. Solid defence from the defensive line and some astute kicking from Danny Turner saw Kesteven gain some good early territory. With the pressure came the penalities and Amber Valley were repeatedly penalised for offences around the fringes which the referee was sharp to punish. Two early penalities from Turner settled some early nerves and set a good tone to the match.

After the opening period Amber Valley did start to impose their own pattern on the game. Some accurate kicking from their fly half saw territory reveresed. The Kesteven pack were asked some questions close to their own line. From the opening exchanges it was clear that the opposition were never going to move the ball out wide and looked to utilise their abrasive pack as much as possible. After repelling a sustained period of pressure the K's pack did concede a push over try. However, this was not before Amber Valley were moved back once or twice off their own ball.

From the kick off WIll Pert received the ball and set up a platform for the forwards which progressed into the Amber Valley half. A quick tap penalty combination between Turner and Dixon nearly saw a breakthrough. A few bursts from wingers and Charles and Jordan showed glimpses of the the clear advantages they held out wide. In the end Kesteven's opening try came from turnover ball. A rush defense saw Jinks and Haywood combine to provide quick ball for Hughes to flash the ball wide. Simple straight hands from Turner and Phil Jordan saw full back Peter Dixon trot in from the ten metre line. The conversion narrowly failed, but Kesteven could see the damage they could cause this Amber Valley side. The opposition did slot a penalty shortly before the break. Kesteven went into half time with a slender 11 - 10 lead.

The second half started off in a similar vein. Turner now controlled the game with his boot and the Kesteven back three managed to stifle the kicking of the opposition fly half. Good territory presented Kesteven with a few penalty opportunities which narrowly sailed wide. Brown had to leave the field after damaging an ankle earlier. HIs performance typified the work rate put in by the Kesteven eight. Lung busting and bruising as it may have seemed the K's pack had were matching Amber Valley in the set pieces and shading them in the loose. Having nullified Amber's only threat Kesteven managed to capitalise on their clear advantages in the backs. Rupert Jordan dropped into his own twenty two to receive a kick and adhered to his "no kicking policy". He set off on a mazy run supported by Turner. The two swapped passes before linking with Haywood on the halfway. The mobile hooker fixed an opposition player before returning the ball to the speedster Jordan who outstripped the opposition on the outside and scored in the corner. What a try and what a time to score! Amber Valley heads dropped and ill discipline crept into their play.

Turner slotted one more penalty and Paton attempted an audacious gruber through the oppositon pack. Amber Valley responded with a try of their own on the last whistle. A poor way to end the match but the 19 - 13 win could not be doubted.

The performance from the entire team was good. In the pack Odams and captain Clarke had prominent games in the tight and loose. The back row of Logan, Brown and Jinks dominated their opposite numbers. Pert was superb in the lineout all day. The front row of Paton, Odams and Haywood faced probably their toguhest opposition of the season and matched them. Scrum half Jordan Hughes had a cracking game and his combination with Turner at ten ensured that they set the tempo for match. Turner had few opportunities to show his flashes of brilliance. However, his mature kicking game dictated and allowed Kesteven to win the match. Wollerton and Phil Jordan had a very tight defensive game in the centres and distributed the ball out wide when needed. The back three of Dixon, Rupert Jordan and Charles did add a few tries to their growing confidence but chased and complimented the kicking game well.

Next saturday sees Kesteven entertain top of the table Ashby. Kesteven need to continue their giant killing ways and string together their third win on the trot.

on a personal note that was one of the most enjoyable matches of sport i have played for years. I think we all knew that we are capable of that performance and i also think we all know we have even more to offer! bring on next week

Thanks Pete - great report - great result - well done all.

11-10 half time........
we score a few to 19-10....
they score a try on the final whistle??????

try only 3 lol
great report, gutted I couldn't travel....
loking forward to training tomoro night!

P.S. does anyone have Mark Sayle senoirs number?

Well done all!!

It'll be hard breaking back into that side!

Click the link:

http://www.rfu.com/fixtures/MatchByDivision.aspx?DivID=14287330

Team P W D L F A Diff Pts Adjust
Ashby 6 5 0 1 218 52 166 10 0
Oakham 6 5 0 1 183 56 127 10 0
Amber Valley 6 4 1 1 124 36 88 9 0
Nottingham Casuals 6 5 0 1 141 49 92 8 -2
Mellish 6 4 0 2 98 68 30 8 0
Southwell 6 4 0 2 135 141 -6 8 0
Melbourne 6 2 1 3 94 115 -21 5 0
Kesteven 6 2 1 3 67 107 -40 5 0
Ashfield 5 1 1 3 45 92 -47 3 0
Worksop 6 1 0 5 63 105 -42 0 -2
Boston 6 0 0 6 49 164 -115 0 0
Barton & District 5 0 0 5 24 256 -232 -4 -4


What an open an unpredictable league this season!!

system lost my reply to Dom's post - Journal will show 8 - 11 at half time to make the final score right.
Team was Dixon, Charles, Jordan P, Woolerton, Jordan R, Turner, Hughes;
Odams, Hayward, Paton, Clarke, Pert, Jinks, Brown and login Subs were Windsor and Tony Smith.
Sorry to hear the bad news about Brownie - broken ankle. Get better soon mate - the team and club needs you.
Dom will text you Saley'snumber.

All the best for a speedy recovery Mr Brown!

What condition was their pitch in? Everytime I have played there its always been a bog; possibly the worst pitch I've ever played on!

Can't believe he broke his ankle. Can't believe he broke it and then carried on playing? All the best.

G. Its amazing how a pitch on the side of a hill and when it hasn't rained for two months, can still remain a touch on the moist side. I think they water it so everyone has to trudge round with their forwards.

Pete, was the Australian girl from Amber Valley?

Great game. Winning away at Amber Valley is always sweet. The team is really starting to look strong in all areas. Shame about Brownie he started to make a difference. Hope you recover soon. With commitment from all we can achieve great things. Days like Saturday are what it's all about. Thanks to the team for making Saturday one of those great days.

I received a txt abot this saturday at home... it would be an honour (albeit a lung busting one) to pull teh jersey on with such a strong looking team! Not 15 players anymore, really seems like the jigsaw is coming together!!!!

Amber Valley Version

Valley lost at home for the first time this season as Kesteven ran out deserved 13-19 winners.

Amber Valley 13 – 19 Kesteven


Amber Valley lost their unbeaten home record, as they deservedly lost to Grantham based Kesteven in Midlands 3 East North.


Valley found themselves at a loss of what to do at the start of the match, as some questionable interpretation of the mauling laws saw them give away a constant stream of penalties in the opening quarter. This gave Kesteven the opening points of the game as their 10 slotted a penalty.


Valley, still struggling with some of the referees interpretations and lack of consistency forced their way up the pitch, some strong running from the backs and another great lineout performance from the entire pack, Burditt, Leadbeater and Richter all combining well. Valleys were camped on the Kesteven line as the inevitable happened and the pack went over for a pushover try, No.8 Ben Parker coming up with the ball, conversion missed put Valley 5-3 ahead.


The game was turning into a real contest as Valley and Kesteven traded breaks and attacks. Lee Chapman again a threat from scrum half at the breakdown was creating spaces with some nice breaks, and some good distribution from the scrum set Stewart Kirkup off into space, but he couldn’t find the support and the attack fizzled out. Kesteven on the other hand had the breaks, but managed to convert, or slot penalties as they eased into an 11-5 lead. That seemed to be the difference between the sides, Kesteven taking the opportunities as they appeared, and Valley losing the ball at the vital moment as chances went begging.


A the half time break Valley felt they were very much in the game, and knew that they had to score next if they were to keep in touch, but Kesteven had the better of the opening exchanges as attacked from deep and caught out the spaces in Valleys defensive line as they scrambled to cover. Soon after, more alledged indiscretion from the home side gave Kesteven a penalty score, which was soon cancelled out but to leave Valley 2 scores behind at 19-8, a not insurmountable target with 20 minutes to go.


But Valley perhaps chased the game too much and lost some of their cohesion, again making good breaks, Dave Walters almost breaking free from a good backs move, but once again the attack broke down and Kesteven were allowed to release the pressure.


Although Valley were struggling to break down the Kesteven defence they seemed to have snuffed out much of the attacking verve from the visitors, the majority of the game played in the Kesteven half, but every time Valley got close to the tryline a penalty was given away, or turnover ball was won by the visitors.


With time ticking away Valley played some of the better Rugby of the afternoon, spreading the ball wide and looking threatening, but it wasn’t until the final play of the game that Shaun Dowdall broke through the defensive wall to score a consolation try.


Coach Tom Uniacke talking to the players after the game commented ‘We have areas to work on to improve for next week, but we have not suddenly become a poor side, we now need to re-focus and work on a gameplan to get us back to winning ways’


So Valley slip to third in the league, but still only a point off the leaders, who they have already beaten earlier in the season. A short hop to Melbourne this week will hopefully see the side return to winning ways.

Well done boys........keep it up! Have to get on with the farming now Brownie!

paul. the australian was a beauty from london unfortunately. if she was from amber valley i would have had no problems asking her to move out of there and in with me and my parents! anywhere is better than the quagmire at pye bridge!