Sat 15th Sept North Hykeham 2ndXV 7 - Kesteven 3rd XV 21

It was another hot day as a mixed 3rd xv travelled to North Hykeham for the first Merit league fixture of the season, and what a fixture it was!

Hykeham had previously been informed of the intention to field a mixture of 2nd and 3rd temers, however, captain Dolan stuck with a starting xv with as many 3rd team as there were available and expected Hykeham to rightly do similar with their 1st and 2nd xv's.

Once the ref had 'miked up' (yes really), the game got underway and it started at quite a pace with attack seeming to be the only form of defence. As you would expect from a mixed side, mistakes were plentiful, but the Kesteven pack worked effectively against an experienced opposing 8. Having already squandered good try scoring opportunities, the first try came the black army's way when a promising Hykeham attack was ended on the 22 and the ball fed wide to Andy Price who rounded 2 defenders and went the length for an impressive individual try. The extras were missed.

This galvanised the home side and they came back strongly and continued to mount impressive attacks on the Kesteven line. As has been a pattern thus far this season, the Kesteven defence was good and managed to hold out. At some point toward the end of the half a hykeham player was sent to the bin for a high tackle and you would have thought that K's would take advantage. Unfortunately Hykeham had other ideas and after a series of great offloads eventually the full back was able to finish under the posts for the home side to go in 7-5 at half time.

A somewhat unsporting beginning to the second half saw Hykeham take advantage of the referees naivity and began the half with a full 15 compliment with their player still in the bin. Clever if you think about it, but perhaps this made what happened next more pertinent. Hykeham gained a penalty on the Kesteven 22 and opted for a shot which went wide but did not drop dead. Everyone expected a 22 drop out, but ever one to 'have a go' Midge simply ran the ball back to Hykeham. As they argued, the ball was recycled twice and eventually put into the hands of Andy Price, who in space was unstaoppable to score his second at the posts. He converted his own try and K's took an improbable lead.

This saw a more veciforous end to the game with a frustrated Hykeham support baying their men on, and applauding every black army mistake, however with each opportunity given, Price was given the opportunity to kick panalties and landed a further 3 kicks for an impressive points total and indeed all the sides points for the day. To further frustrate the home side their skipper was given a team yellow for infringments at the ruck which left them with a bitter taste in the mouth.

A good victory and one hard earnt. Perhaps this was the one occasion where Kesteven played the referee perfectly and left the opposition to scratch their heads over some of the decisions. Whatever way you put it, a disciplined performance saw a good victory, and with better handling and decision making the score surely would have been greater. Nothing can be taken away from Hykeham who were dangerous in attack and tacked impressively against the running of Midge, Des and Miles.

Man of the match quite rightly for an outstanding all round display was Andy Price, who is growing in confidence with each match.

Team:
King, Dolan P, Paton, Arnold, Bennett, Smith Jordan, Dez, Peabody, Login, Martin, Smith S, Midgely, Price A, Charles, Blackley, Dolan R, Smith T, Miles T.

That report much more closely matches my impressions of the game than the other one!