Peterborough very kindly obliged to host a match with the Lincoln U16s after the scheduled match for Lincoln was cancelled at the last minute. It was another fine sunny afternoon for rugby. Both sides were looking at their development sides with Peterborough including a number of reserve backs and Lincoln looking at some of their reserve forwards.
In the first half the Lincoln backs proved a bit too strong for the Peterborough reserves and Lincoln were ahead 28-0 in the first half thanks to two tries from full back Josh White, a try from James Kirk, who was playing at inside centre, and one from Jack McGill (who filled in at both fly half and full back).
Dan Hill started at scrum half giving Will Clark a deserved rest. After some substitutions in the backs, he also played at fly half and did remarkably well in both positions for the entire match.
Peterborough went back to their starting side in the second half and the game became far more competitive with Peterborough running in two tries through some scrambling play in the Lincoln defence. Simon Marwood, playing at flanker and no. 8 in his first match after almost six months off due to a broken hand, scored the only Lincoln try in the second half. It was good to see Simon playing again and in the future back in his loose head prop role.
Llncoln converted all five tries with Kirk converting four and McGill converting one – not easy conversions either.
Overall, it was a good afternoon of rugby with neither side worrying too much about the score, but instead working on perfecting some aspects of play. Lincoln wish to thank Peterborough again for hosting the match at such short notice and giving the Lincoln side a chance to get a match in prior to the Easter break.
Lincoln now have a very busy final month of the season coming in April with the tour to Dublin and the Cup final against Chesterfield.
02 March - NLD Cup Semi-Final
Lincoln 25 – Derby 17
It is a shame that these two teams do not get a chance to play more often in the season. Derby are a well-drilled, talented side and have been NLD champions in previous years. The two squads are an excellent match-up and the game this Sunday was entertaining to the final whistle.
The semi-finals were being played at Sleaford RFC. The day was clear with a strong wind blowing down the pitch. Derby won the toss and elected to play with the wind for the first half. Lincoln started strong and pushed Derby into their 22 before a penalty and some strong running by the Derby backs pressed Lincoln back to into the Lincoln half. Within five minutes of the kick off Derby were ahead after an excellent run by their scrum half, put the fly half clear between the Lincoln centres to score.The conversion was missed, but Derby were in front by five points to nil.
Full Back James Ramm, was injured on the play and with limited reserve backs, Jack Newhouse came on to replace him. There were a number of players that had to be shifted into positions to ensure the defence continued to work.
Lincoln re-grouped and put the pressure immediately back onto Derby. Scrum half Will Clark, made an excellent run through the Derby defence and Lincoln were pressing again into the Derby 22. Lincoln came close to scoring, but an inadvertent knock-on in the line-out gave Derby a scrum at their own 5-metre line. The Lincoln scrum was pushing hard and winning ball against the head and this time they won the ball that was taken by number eight Callum Todd,, who crashed through to score the try to tie the match. Inside centre James Kirk, was unable to convert the try against the wind as the match remained level.
Todd had an excellent match and made some startling runs and played outstanding in the loose. It was no surprise that he was considered to have been the man of the match following his effort and play in the semi final.
Lincoln started to dominate the match and were getting to the break-downs quickly and winning good ball for the Lincoln backs. Outside centre Josh White nearly scored on a superb run down the wing but just stepped into touch. Finally, on the reverse move the ball moved quickly through the centres, and into the hands of winger Max Olive, who was able to score in the opposite corner. Again, against the wind the conversion was close, but fell short making the score 10-5.
Lincoln came back immediately and with the ball moving quickly into the Lincoln backs, the ball was back in the Derby half. This time after a break through the scrum, hooker Scott Harrington came clear with the ball and Sam Blanchet following from the wing position supported him.Blanchet received the pass to come clear and score the third try of the first half to put the score at 15-5 going in at half time.
Lincoln made a number of substitutions bringing on Patrick Feeney at loose head prop, Justin Blanchet into lock and Steve Kemp on as hooker. After the first half, Lincoln looked to continue to press Derby in the second half this time with the wind advantage. Derby had other plans however and made changes in the scrum that started to give Lincoln some trouble. After a penalty and some neat rolling rucks and mauls Derby put the ball down in the corner for a try.
Lincoln came back immediately and after a move from fly half Jack McGill and Kirk, he put a nice miss pass out to Ed Crowe who dumped the ball back inside to White who was able to put the ball down between the posts. Now with the wind, Kirk, converted the try and Lincoln were ahead 22-10.
After a couple of unfortunate penalties Derby were again moved into the Lincoln 22, before being awarded a penalty try that was not clearly understood or explained. This put Derby squarely back into the match with 10 minutes left to play at 22-17.
Lincoln regained their confidence after a 15-minute lull in activity and started to play their own rugby again. The match turned very physical and Newhouse ended with a badly cut eye, while Blanchet twisted his ankle after a bone crushing tackle on the Derby outside centre. Jake Deverill and Justin Blanchet came back on. Owing to the tightness of the game, of the 22 players identified for the match, Dan Hill and Peter Noon, did not get any game time, although their support for the team was much appreciated.
Lincoln were in the Derby half until the end of the match and were awarded one penalty that was missed, but Kirk made no mistake next time around to slot over his next attempt, as the game finished 25-17 in Lincoln’s favour.
As always, Derby provided some excellent competition and an exciting game right to the finish. In the other semi-final Chesterfield beat Newark 6-0 in a close fought battle. This means Lincoln play Chesterfield in the cup final in April. Ahead of that match there is plenty of rugby to look forward to including their tournament in Dublin.
24 February
Lincoln 36 – Dinnington 5
After the previous weekend was cancelled due to the frozen ground at Dinnington, it was lucky enough that both squads had a free weekend to be able to play on the following Sunday. This Sunday the weather was much warmer, +10C rather than –2C, but the cold wind across the Dinnington pitch and the overcast skies made the day feel just as cold.
The ground was good underfoot and both teams had an excellent start. Lincoln elected to start the match going uphill with the crosswind. Lincoln did press early into the Dinnington twenty-two, but through some very dogged defence Dinnington was able to kick the ball clear and start to press the advantage against Lincoln. The match was being pressed from both sides with neither gaining an advantage until James Kirk was able to get clear on the wing with Max Olive on the outside and Jack McGill on the inside. The inside pass was available and Jack McGill was able to push through and put the ball down for the opening try. With the wind directly against the kick, the conversion was not made.
Dinnington were winning their own ball and turning over some of the ball to give Lincoln difficulties at the breakdowns. It was in the open field that Lincoln was able to get an advantage by stripping balls from Dinnington when they became isolated in the tackles. Dinnington continued to press through their forwards and the Lincoln defence was stretched and saved by some clearing kicks by Will Clark, scrum half, and Jack McGill, fly half, followed by a couple of last ditch tackles from full back, James Ramm. James had to take on the centres and the no. 8 of Dinnington to close the Dinnington plays and to keep Dinnington from scoring in the first half.
Lincoln were making good ground by some hard running by Nat King, prop, Sam Blanchet, no. 8, and Scott Harrington, hooker. This put the Dinnington defence on the back foot in the open and allowed the Lincoln backs to run through some phases. Although Dinnington are an excellent rucking team, Lincoln were able to get to the open breakdowns very quickly allowing Will Clark the time to spin the ball into the open and make good yards going up the pitch. James Kirk was able to score another try in the first half as did James Ramm, with one conversion put the score 17-0 in Lincoln’s favour at half-time.
The crosswind calmed in the second half and Lincoln took advantage of the down hill slope of the pitch. Lincoln had a number of subs and worked Dan Hill into scrum half by moving Jack McGill into the outside centre position. This gave Ed Crow a break as he is still recovering from a foot injury. Similarly, Jake Deverill and Jack Newhouse rotated through the back row and provided continuity with Callum Todd filling in at no. 8 or in the blindside flanker position. Tom Porter was still nursing his injured ankle from county and was rested for most of the match.
Dinnington were able to force a try up the pitch in the second half after some very determined running through their forwards. This was during a ten-minute period when Lincoln’s game went into a bit of a lull and Dinnington looked to come back into the game a bit.
However, a well-deserved try by Nat King running through and attacking in the opposite corner set Lincoln into a strong position. This was followed by the second try by James Kirk, which was set up by an excellent up and over kick by Jack McGill. Tom Wilcox came on to play in the second row and came up with an excellent run and offload which set up the final try of the match from Max Olive on the wing.
This was a good match to set Lincoln up for their cup-semi final next Sunday.
10 February
Lincoln 28 – Mansfield 0
Lincoln had not played for the previous two weekends due to cancellations and so were up for this match even though they were missing a number of players due to county representative duties. The match provided a number of players good opportunities to start and to get more game time with some of the starters not playing.
Mansfield is always a good physical match for Lincoln and this Sunday’s match was no different. Both teams were playing hard in the loose and in the scrums and it took some scrambling play in the backs for Jake Deverill, flanker, to score Lincoln’s first try ten minutes into the match. James Kirk, fly half, converted the try.
Dan Hill was playing scrum half and was under the gun throughout the match through some very aggressive play by Mansfield around the scrums and breakdowns. Dan was still able to get the ball away to James Kirk who was putting the ball into the centres through good passing. But it was from some precise kicking into space that allowed Josh White, inside centre, to get clear and score the second try again converted by James Kirk to put Lincoln ahead 14-0 at half time.
In the second half Lincoln continued to apply pressure and was held short of the line through some dogged Mansfield defence. Callum Todd, playing lock, broke through the defence finally and put down a try between the posts and easily converted by James Kirk.
Playing with only fourteen players after injuries to Sam Blanchet, no. 8, Lincoln were able to hold their own against the Mansfield team. After a number of phases through the backs Josh Dandy put in the final try of the match and James converted the fourth try to make the score final.
20 January
Lincoln 34 – Dinnington 7
The match against Dinnington is always one of the highlights of the season for Lincoln – always competitive, but played with great respect on both sides. Last year’s match was played at Dinnington in a snowstorm with strong winds and stinging sleet. Sunday’s match saw ideal conditions in Lincoln with a slight breeze across the pitch.
After the last couple of mediocre games Lincoln had something to prove and started the match with that in mind. Lincoln pressed Dinnington on the kick-off causing a knock on and then never stopped pressing. Even against the wind in the first half Lincoln continued to attack in both forward play and in defence. Dinnington were called offside early a few times as they tried to encroach on the Lincoln attack, which put even more pressure on the Dinnington defence.
Lincoln had been working on the backs moves that were falling flat since the re-start of the season in January and that work was paying off. Jack McGill was starting again at fly half and was feeding excellent clean ball out to James Kirk, inside centre then to Josh White, outside centre. This combination of centres was very effective and created a lot of space for the wings and for the full back, James Ramm, coming through the line. Ed Crowe, normally playing outside centre, had a startling game on the wing getting good ball and making great gains out wide through pace and some very nice steps and swerves through the defence.
Lincoln scored their first try within the first five minutes of play after some excellent forward moves through the pack.
Sam Blanchet, no. 8, was clear but held up just short, which allowed the pack to set up a phase move on the blind side and setting up Ed Crowe to put down the first try.
The Lincoln forwards had gone back to the drawing board on the set piece basics with new assistant coach Kyle Rolfe, from the Lincoln 1st XV. The Lincoln scrummaging and line-outs were much improved and the forwards continued to supply the backs with good consistent ball throughout the first half. With Alex Knight, second row, back in the line up after completing his representative duties, the line-outs were particularly effective. After the first try Lincoln was up and through some excellent combinations of 15-man rugby, they set up three more tries all within the first twenty minutes of play. With two conversions by James Kirk, that put the score at 24-0 and Dinnington was really on the back foot.
Dinnington, as Lincoln knew they would, did not give up however and came back strong in the second half with nice rolling forward moves through a series of rucks and mauls. Dinnington did get their confidence back and pressed hard to score one converted try. Even with the wind Lincoln were only able to score two more tries in the second half putting the score at the end of the match 34-7.
The other try scorers for Lincoln included, James Ramm, full back, scoring two tries – one off a beautiful set play chip ahead by Jack McGill, fly half – and tries by Scott Harrington, prop, -- Scott had an outstanding game with some great runs straight at the Dinnington pack – Max Olive, wing, scored a very nice try into the corner after some strong running and Josh White, outside centre – Josh had a super game together with James Kirk as the starting set of centres. The entire squad looked back to full form and ready for the cup finals now delayed to the beginning of March.
Both sides are now looking forward to the return friendly match at Dinnington in three weeks time.
13 January
Matlock 15 - Lincoln 24
The second of Lincoln’s NLD cup matches was played away at Matlock. It had been two years since Lincoln had played Matlock, so the visitors had very little information as to what they would be up against.
Lincoln started very slowly and were backed into their own 22 early on in the match. After getting clear and starting to find their pace Lincoln went off-side at a breakdown and Matlock took the opportunity to kick the penalty for three points.
The match was then evenly played with a number of errors on the Lincoln side giving unnecessary advantages to Matlock. There were dropped passes and kicking errors and the Matlock forwards were winning the ball in the loose, and in the scrums against the head. It was not until Lincoln put pressure on Matlock through some kicks out of hand and some backs moves, that centre Josh White, was able to score Lincoln’s first try on a broken play. Against the wind and well towards the corner posts, James Kirk, was unable to convert.
Lincoln then let Matlock back into the game and, again, after a number of errors, the Matlock forwards dominated in the loose and put Matlock over for a try in the corner at the end of the half. This put the score 8-5 at half time.
Lincoln made some changes just before the half bringing lock Alex Knight into the match and Jack McGill was moved into the fly half position.
Lincoln came out in the second half with the wind and more aggression. The Lincoln forwards were arriving at the break-downs more quickly and gaining good yards with the ball running straighter lines.
Finally, in the second half, some of the backs’ moves were coming good and with speed from Ed Crowe, who had moved to the wing, full back James Ramm zipped through the defence to score a try. James Kirk, now playing inside centre, was able to convert the try from a difficult position putting Lincoln ahead, 12-8.
Immediately following the try, and after some aggressive running by Michael Thompson,
Nat King was able to create space to get the ball to Jack Newhouse. Jack Newhouse ran through the final bit of the Matlock defence to score a try between the posts. James Kirk was able to easily convert the try to give Lincoln a 19-8 lead.
Again, Lincoln started to slow down and after some poor handling the Matlock centres picked up a loose ball to score a try between the posts, which was easily converted.
Lincoln went back on the offensive and went back to work in the Matlock 22. After some extensive pressure and a couple of near misses for Lincoln tries, Josh White scored the fourth try for a bonus point and a 24-15 lead.
This was not one of Lincoln’s best performances, but Matlock proved to be much better competition than expected. The Matlock forwards had a stellar match with exceptional performances from their two hookers. The match was well-fought and both squads expressed the desire to play more often in future friendly fixtures. With Kesteven dropping out of the competition, the win puts Lincoln into the Cup semi-finals, and Lincoln will be working on their form to ensure they get through the next round of play.
06 January
Lincoln 18 – Chesterfield 10
The NLD cup matches started this Sunday, with Lincoln playing one of NLD’s most competitive sides, Chesterfield. Lincoln had barely scraped a win against Chesterfield earlier in the season, but this time the fine weather and the near dry pitch conditions favoured the fast, open style of rugby played by Lincoln.
Lincoln pressed Chesterfield early and had most of the possession and field position. The Chesterfield defence was holding, howeverand it was only after a penalty was awarded to Lincoln that they were able to go ahead 3-0 on the penalty taken by James Kirk, fly half. Some excellent kicking out of hand by James Kirk put Chesterfield under a great deal of pressure, but the Chesterfield pack were dominating in the loose and Lincoln had trouble dealing with the rolling mauls and rucks from the Chesterfield side. The line-outs were also giving Lincoln trouble as Chesterfield used their height advantage to positive affect. Lincoln had to wait until another Chesterfield penalty to put through another kick by James Kirk to go ahead 6-0.
At the 20 minute mark the pressure that Lincoln was exerting paid off and after some good scrambling work from Steve Badmin, prop, off-loading to Justin Blanchet, lock, the off-load ent to Tom Porter, flanker, who put the ball down to score the first try of the match.
Some very nice backs move through James Kirk, with a miss pass to Josh White, outside centre, the ball was looped to Ed Crowe, inside centre who scored the second try in the corner after another five minutes of play. James Kirk was unable to convert this try after converting the first one, which put Lincoln ahead 18-0 at the half.
Lincoln made a number of substitutions including bringing Dan Hill onto the wing, Jake Deverill at flanker, Justin Blanchet at no. 8, and Steve Kemp was brought back on as hooker. Lincoln had to play against the wind in the second half and came out to hold onto their lead. Chesterfield started to apply pressure and after a handling mistake by Lincoln, Chesterfield scored a try in the corner.
Ten minutes later after more pressure and another error by Lincoln caused a penalty, Chesterfield scored a second try and got their second wind.
Lincoln did put some pressure on Chesterfield and Will Clark could have scored after some excellent defence but an unlucky bounce pushed the ball just out of reach and Lincoln were frustrated from scoring in the entire second half. Chesterfield continued to put pressure on until the very end of the match, but the Lincoln defence held and the match ended 18-10. This puts Lincoln in a strong position in their Cup table with a match next weekend against Matlock away and then the final of the preliminary matches against Kesteven at home.
16 December
Lincoln 15 – Peterborough 10
Lincoln always enjoys and good hard fought match against Peterborough and this match was no different. Peterborough is a talented and disciplined side who play a similar open style of play to Lincoln. Although Lincoln were missing starters Alex Knight, lock, Simon Marwood, prop, and James Kirk, inside centre, to representative duties at NLD, and Nat King, prop, due to injury and Sam Blanchet, no. 8, due to travel, Lincoln were still able to field a strong side.
Many of the Lincoln side had played for the county side the previous weekend beating Notts in the second of their two matches in a hard fought 3-0 victory and were prepared for this match against Peterborough.
Peterborough started very quickly with some super individual efforts and scored a try within the first two minutes of the match. Lincoln then buckled down and it was a hard fought first half with Peterborough scoring near the end of the half with another great individual effort to put them ahead 10-0 at half time.
Lincoln came out in the second half more determined after sizing up the strengths of Peterborough in the first half. Peterborough had a much bigger pack than Lincoln and good strengths in the centres. It wasn’t half way through the second half that Lincoln finally scored with some good speed from Josh White, playing inside centre, who made his way clear through to score.
Then with some superb forward work Steve Badmin, prop, pushed his way over the try line to score. Jack McGill converted the try to put Lincoln ahead 12-10. Then with five minutes left a penalty was awarded to Lincoln and Jack McGill kicked the ball through from outside the 22 to put Lincoln ahead 15-10 and Lincoln were able to hold that score to the end of the match.
Once again, Lincoln thoroughly enjoyed playing Peterborough and would look forward to a re-match in the new year.
09 December
Lincoln 53 – Sleaford 0
The match was moved from at home at Lincoln to an away game at Sleaford. With the Christmas market and a county match being played at Kesteven later that afternoon, it was going to be difficult to manage the day’s events and the Sleaford side kindly obliged to host the game.
Although Lincoln had 11 players missing due to county representative duties, they did have two of their NLD players, James Kirk and Simon Marwood, playing. Alex Knight was at a trial for the Midlands U-16. That left only 14 players available to play for Lincoln whilst subbing one of the county players one for 12 minutes at a time. Still, Sleaford are going through a re-building season and had a mixed age group to play against Lincoln and were missing their full back who was due to play for the county team in the afternoon. Sleaford had some trouble dealing with the attacking pressure of Lincoln and James Kirk, playing fly half, scored early in the match on some handy moves through the backs.
Lincoln had the two Joshes, Josh White and Josh Dandy, playing in the centres both with some exceptional speed. With Dan Hill playing scrum half and James Kirk at fly half once the ball was won in the forwards it did not take much to move the ball quickly up the pitch into scoring position with tries coming from the inside centre Josh White and James Kirk putting across two more tries.
The Lincoln side had to play with 13 players in the second half and Sleaford’s game started to come together. Sleaford pressed Lincoln in the second half and came close to scoring before the ball was cleared away with some good kicking from Lincoln.
In the end Lincoln scored nine tries, four from James Kirk, two from Josh White, inside centre, and a try each from Michael Thompson, playing 2nd row, Will Clark and Jack Newhouse, both filling in at wing at separate times. James Kirk converted four of the nine tries.
11 November
Lincoln 64 Grimsby 0
Grimsby was only able to field 12 players so the Lincoln reserves Peter Noon, Tom Wilcox and Harry Guymer kindly agreed to play for Grimsby. With Lincoln having 16 players it was a good run out for all the players with the three Lincoln NLD players attending a representative fixture and Will Clark playing for the U-17s in a league match.
Although Lincoln dominated play Grimsby did push Lincoln right to the try line a couple of times on some very good kicking from their fly-half and few penalties by Lincoln. The game plan for Lincoln was to work the forwards moving forward and off-loading to put the defence on the back-foot before running the ball out wide into the centres. The plan worked well and made very exciting play from the Lincoln side in the second half as some of the moves started to come to fruition.
It was good to have James Ramm, full back, back into the line-up after an ankle injury and he was able to put some good speed on the outside and come into the backs line a few times for some nice slashing runs. There was only one minor injury throughout the match when Michael Thompson went to grab the ball from the Grimsby full back and whacked Justin Blanchet instead. Michael did apologise and Justin accepted his apology, but in a voice that is now half an octave higher.
The scores came from a variety of positions including tries from the forwards Steve Kemp, hooker, Jack Newhouse, no. 8 and Patrick Feeney, prop. The ball coming from the scrum half, Dan Hill was very effective however and the centres dominated with some hard running from Sam Blanchet playing inside centre and scoring three tries. Ed Crowe the outside centre scored two tries, Max Olive, wing, scored the first try of the game seconds after kick-off and then a try in the second half and Jack McGill put in a try and made seven conversions.
Grimsby never gave up and continued to push the Lincoln attack with some good aggressive tackling and defence – even some spirited, hard-tackling defence coming from the three Lincoln players on the Grimsby side.
The players now feel prepared and ready for
next week’s away match at Nuneaton.
28th October
Lincoln 26 Nuneaton 31
Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later and Lincoln’s unbeaten streak came to end against a very good Nuneaton side. Lincoln had their three NLD players away at a match and with no-shows from four starting backs, Lincoln had to play with sixteen players. Lincoln played Justin Blanchet (flanker), as full back, Nat King (prop), on one wing and Jack Newhouse (flanker) on the other wing. The only backs Lincoln had were Will Clark, Dan Hill, Jack McGill and Max Olive.
It was a very windy and blustery day and Lincoln elected to play against the wind in the first half. The forwards played extremely well considering the day winning most of the loose ball and holding Nuneaton to 19 points in the first half with Michael Thompson, 2nd row, putting in a great effort to put in a try before half time. That left the half time score at 19-5 for Nuneaton.
Jack McGill had a great kicking game and put his foot to good use in the second half as Lincoln pulled in close to Nuneaton. With injuries to Scott Harrington and then to Justin Blanchet, Lincoln were down to only 14 men and Nuneaton were able to put in two more tries on the open wing, but unable to convert either one.
Even with only 14 players, Lincoln pushed hard in the second half, driving forward with the ball and making some great gains. Justin Blanchet had to make some very good catches in the full back position and held his own against the Nuneaton backs.
Lincoln did fight back with three tries in the second half with another from Michael Thompson, Scott Harrington, hooker, putting in a great charge through the Nuneaton forwards and then Jake Deverill, flanker, made his first try of the season on an excellent run from just inside Nuneaton twenty-two. All four tries being scored from the forwards on Sunday.
Jack McGill converted all the second half tries with some outstanding place kicking that left Lincoln only 5 points behind with a few minutes to play when the referee ended the game early – probably due to the weather as it had started to rain, but we weren’t quite sure.
Lincoln plays Nuneaton again in four weeks, at Nuneaton this time, and the Lincoln side is looking forward to another good match.
14th October
Lincoln 10 Chesterfield 5
It was another hard fought away game for the Lincoln U-16s. Chesterfield had prepared well for this match and, as always, this is a well contested competition. The pitch was wet and sandy, which made the ball difficult to handle and there were a few dropped balls and unforced errors on both sides.
It was a see-saw battle in the first half with a number of penalties forcing Lincoln deep into their half. Lincoln had to make a number of very brave defensive stands after penalties in their own 22 until Lincoln could work their way out of their own half. Ed Crowe, outside centre, finally scored the first try late in the first half on a charge down of a clearing kick from the Chesterfield full back. The conversion attempt was missed, but that put Lincoln ahead 5-0 at half time.
The only changes in the first half were Justin Blanchet, back row, into the blind side flanker position to provide some height into the lineouts. Chesterfield were working with a pivot and had some very handy moves that were going uncontested in the line-outs until the changes were made. Steve Badmin, LH prop, had to be changed out due to his knee injury and Patrick Feeney came into this position. Patrick, again, come on in a tough game and made an excellent contribution to the front row effort.
Simon Marwood, LH prop, has been nurturing a shoulder injury and dressed so that he could support the backs, but could not play front row. Simon did get a few minutes on the wing to give Tom Lee a break in the second half, but did not get any ball.
Lincoln struggled a bit in the first 20 minutes to get good ball out to the backs, but this loosened up and Lincoln got much quicker ball in the latter stages of the first half and into the second half. Early in the second half, James Kirk put Lincoln ahead 10-0 with a slashing move through the Chesterfield backfield after a miss and switch move that put numbers on the outside.
Chesterfield continued to press the Lincoln defence and some outstanding try line defence prevented a score. It was only late in the second half with a number of reserves on the pitch and three Lincoln penalties in a row did Chesterfield finally pile in a try.
This match-up is always a good spirited affair as Lincoln and Chesterfield have played in the same Cup grouping over a number of years and the players now know each other at County and NLD levels. Both teams enjoyed a well-deserved meal and drink following the match, with a lot of banter about whether England would play South Africa or Argentina in the final next weekend.
7th October
Lincoln 19 Paviors 5
Paviors have an excellent squad of players with five NLD players -- they are mobile, offloading out of tackles and were attacking Lincoln in defence. Paviors have a new inside centre from Nottingham who was very handy. The fly half and full back had an excellent game, but they were missing a starting winger and their flanker who plays for NLD that might have made a difference in the score line. It was a good game – the most competitive thus far in the season for the Lincoln U-16s. The Paviors scrummaging was good, but their line-out seemed to let them down a bit with Lincoln winning most ball.
Jack McGill, Jack Newhouse, James Ramm, Steve Badmin, Callum Todd and Peter Noon were all injured, so Lincoln only had 19 players with two of the reserves new to the Lincoln squad. Josh White had his first game of the season at full back and had a super game. Josh scored a try on a very nice run through most of the Paviors in defence. Scott Harrington, hooker, played only part of the game as best he could suffering from a flu bug. Patrick Feeney, normally a second row, had to come in as a reserve hooker and played very well.This was the first time the team had played Patrick as hooker -- Patrick plays hooker at school – and he filled in very well – something to look forward to in future games?
Paviors put a lot of pressure on the fly half, Dan Hill, and Lincoln had trouble getting the ball out into the back quick enough to put in any kind of back moves. Will Clark, scrum half, played had another super match getting onto the Paviors scrum half quickly and putting the ball out of the set pieces quick and wide. The forwards had their hands full supporting the breakdowns and having to put in some tough tackles especially on the Paviors no. 8 who made a number of runs with hard yards gained.
Overall, this was a good game played by Lincoln, but they appeared to be not quite ready for the faster pace played by Paviors. It appeared that Lincoln were playing about 75% with the missing starters, especially James Ramm and Jack McGill. James Kirk scored the opening try and Max Olive scored a very nice try on the wing. Max appears to have developed some very explosive running skills over the summer and was impressive all game. James Kirk converted two of the three tries and with his opening try put the match ahead of Paviors in the second half.
By playing an exceptional side like Paviors the weaknesses of the Lincoln were made apparent and gives the side something to focus on in the coming weeks.
30th September
Lincoln 59 East Retford 0
East Retford play an all ages side and had some very big lads. The East Retford pack gave Lincoln a very rough ride in the scrums and Lincoln had to hold on with some awkward takes from Alex Knight, playing no. 8, and Will Clark at scrum half. East Retford ran into some trouble on the rucks -- falling over the ball and getting off their feet -- and were penalised with, unluckily, one of the East Retford players being yellow carded for diving on the ball after being repeatedly warned. Other than those minor infractions, East Retford played extremely hard and fair. They had some strong runs through the middle including one kick-over that almost resulted in a try. The Lincoln boys enjoyed playing East Retford and it was a spirited contest throughout the match regardless of the score.
Lincoln were playing with a few injuries including their no. 8, Sam Blanchet. This put the skipper, Alex Knight, into the no. 8 position, with Patrick Feeney and Michael Thompson holding the lock positions. Other than the scrum, the set pieces in the rucks, mauls and line-outs were all working well. The speed in the lift in the line-outs continues to be an advantage for Lincoln as Lincoln won 100% of their line-outs and East Retford giving up 45% of their line-outs.
The game plan for Lincoln was to carry the ball forward, work the off-load and get quick ball at the breakdown. All basic things, but worked extremely well today. Lincoln worked all the backs moves and were moving the ball around the pitch creating havoc with the East Retford defensive lines. The ball moved very quickly outside giving Max Olive on one wing and Tom Lee on the other wing plenty of ball and good opportunities to make yards. Considering that Max had scalded his foot with boiling water on the weekend, it was great to see him out and running and not something Max recommends, even though he did score four tries.
This was Josh White’s first game back with Lincoln and he played well at wing in the first half and at outside centre in the second half. Josh scored two tries through some good speed from the centre position and looked dangerous throughout the match. James Kirk was playing with some minor injuries at the full back position and directed the backs to some big gains. James came through the line from full back and made a number of outstanding runs scoring one try, three conversions and one penalty.
Will Clark, Simon Marwood and Scott Harrington rounded out the scoring with one try each making the final score from 10 tries, 3 conversions and 1 penalty … all in all, not a bad morning for the Lincoln squad.
23rd September
Lincoln 38 Loughborough 0
Loughborough is bigger than remembered from last year, with some quick backs and back row players. The Loughborough scrum half is very good and they have a very handy full back with excellent hands picking up kicks in the loose and preventing one try from a kick over from Ed Crowe to James Kirk. Loughborough had a couple of heavy forwards (Steve Badmin + 2 stone) that gave us some trouble in the scrums in the first half. The first twenty minutes was close with Lincoln playing uphill and against the wind, but as the game progressed it appeared that the Loughborough forwards started to tire. Lincoln started to dominate in the loose as the lighter Lincoln pack seemed to be at the breakdown in numbers with the Loughborough forwards held in offside positions.
James Ramm sprained his ankle in the warm-up prior to the match and Lincoln had to play with only seven backs. As this was Dom Mulder’s first match it was decided to move Sam Blanchet into the backs. The other injury and some incredible news is that on Saturday Nat King decided to climb onto his neighbours barn conversion and fell 25-feet through their glass sunlight. Nat, thank goodness, was not seriously injured, but was held in hospital overnight for observation – not because he was injured because the doctor thought he was nuts for climbing up there in the first place! The team missed Nat today and the players and supporters wish him well and expect to see him back to training this week.
Without a full complement of backs, James Kirk had to move into full back, with Dan Hill at number 10, Sam Blanchet inside centre, Ed Crowe outside centre and Tom Lee and Max Olive on the wings. This worked well early on as Sam Blanchet, normally a number 8, crushed the Loughborough centres in tackles and caused Loughborough a number of headaches in defence and attack. This allowed James Kirk to come into the line from fullback opening more space for the Lincoln wings.
Will Clark had another solid game at scrum half -- leading the team and making passes with several changes around him in the backs and forwards. Will kept his head, took control at each of the breakdowns and was rewarded with a charge down that Sam Blanchet handled to score the opening try. This was followed within 5 minutes by a strong run and try by Simon Marwood. Simon was playing his first game back and had a big game scoring two tries and some very nice straight head-on running – Simon initiated good running combinations with Scott Harrington (prop and hooker) that gained 30 meters at a time.
Lincoln went through a number of injuries (Tom Lee, Jack Newhouse, Tom Porter, Simon Marwood) so Lincoln ended up at one stage in the second half with Michael Thompson (2nd row) on one wing, Dom Mulder on the other wing, Dan Hill fly half, James Kirk at inside centre, Ed Crowe outside centre, with Max Olive full back. Lincoln tried a couple of combinations, but that 10, 12, 13 combination (Hill, Kirk and Crowe) was very strong. Ed Crowe scored a try in the second half through brute speed and strength after some nice back moves. And, when Justin Blanchet, playing no. 8 and flanker, intercepted a Loughborough pass outside their 22 and then outpaced the wing and the full back to score in the corner, the game was all but over.
The new Lincoln addition in the back row, Jake Deverill, had a huge game today as flanker, having to play both blind and open. Jake has a natural rugby brain -- very quick and agile in attack and defence and he made no handling mistakes. Max Olive had to play all over the park today and took a nasty hit to the neck – Max played wing, fullback and outside centre and scored a phenomenal try from the full back position in the second half – super angle of running.Due to both Max’s and Jake’s commitment to the match, perseverance to continue to play with injuries and the way they inspired their respective backs and forwards, Max and Jake would have been awarded the co-men of the match.
We ended up with six tries (Marwood 2 tries, S. Blanchet, J. Blanchet, E. Crowe and M. Olive) with four conversions from James Kirk -- not a bad morning. The only criticism was that there were some linking problems between the forwards and the backs with some poor decisions being made -- something to work on during training.
Loughborough were an outstanding side, and although the match became heated at times due to both squads competitiveness, Loughborough were a pleasure to watch and to play against. Lincoln is certain Loughborough will come out stronger later in the season when we play them at their home.
9th September
Lincoln 36 Doncaster 11
Doncaster is a big powerful Yorkshire side with some sizeable players in the pack and in the backs – they have an exceptional full back -- scored their only try in the last play of the match -- and an excellent hooker.
Lincoln were a bit intimidated in the first half, but ended up leading 10-3 with a drop goal (yes, our very first drop goal) by James Kirk-- the drop goal was not pretty, but it went through. The set pieces were working well, but we were having a bit of trouble with our own scrum as the Doncaster hooker stole the ball against the head a few times. In the first half, the Lincoln rucking and mauling was good and the backs were going through the paces advancing the ball, but Lincoln were playing tentative in open play and were not advancing the ball before off loading – it was all a bit plodding.
At half time that was sorted and Lincoln piled on the pressure and then started to run away with the game. Doncaster never really threatened again as the Lincoln forwards started to move the ball forward, off-loading out of the tackles. Alex Knight made his debut for Lincoln this season and made his presence felt as team captain getting the pack to run forward nearer the rucks where we determined at half time that Doncaster had poor guards. Sam Blanchet made a couple of excellent runs, but Michael Thompson made the hard yards and seemed to inspire the Lincoln forwards to press on. Michael ended up with some huge gains and scored a try for his hard work – it was well deserved and Michael was probably the man of the match for the inspiration.
With the forwards picking the ball up and going straight Lincoln starting to play to its game plan getting eight men to the break down, winning the ball quickly and then, boom, Will Clark, scrum half, getting the ball out to the backs where they had plenty of space.
Will Clark had another superb game taking the ball out of rucks and scrums and keeping the ball close to the pack as he made exceptional gains. For his efforts Will scored a try in the second half out of some broken play.Dan Hill started at fly half and then about 20 minutes in was substituted to give Jack McGill, who started at outside centre, a shot at no. 10. Jack had a good first game back -- very aggressive with the ball and in defence. With the NLD trials Lincoln only had seven backs, which made it a bit tense at times, but Nat King played both prop and wing throughout the game, allowing Lincoln to play with inadequate numbers of reserve backs. Tom Lee and Max Olive were strong on the wings continuing to move the ball forward with James Ramm, full back, in support. James Ramm was again very solid at 15 and made a few startling runs, again putting even more pressure on the Doncaster defence. James Kirk put in another superb effort running in 3 tries, kicking 4 of 5 conversions and kicking a drop goal – tremendous.
Overall, it was a hard fought affair with Doncaster showing the strain in the second half as they had only been able to train once before this match -- their first of the season. The hospitality shown by Doncaster was very much appreciated and we look forward to hosting them in Lincoln later this season when we are sure Doncaster will come ready to play.
2nd Sep 07
Lincoln U16's 19 Hinckley 0
Not a bad start to the season considering we were missing six starters due to representative duties and injuries. The game plan was to use this as a practise session and focus on attacking in defence, attacking with the ball and just letting the players play. All players got game time as we substituted freely throughout the match.
Hinckley is a big, strong side with excellent skills in the breakdown. They were having some problems at the set pieces no doubt due to this being the first game of the season. Hinckley played with the wind in the first half and came close to scoring but the Lincoln defence held up well. All the scoring was in the second half with the wind at Lincoln’s back.
Will Clark, scrum half, had a super game – probably the man of the match. He's obviously been training over the summer and is very fit for this time of the season. He scored the first try with a box kick from the back of a ruck that he chased down and then put into the corner.
With our starting outside centre missing, Dan Hill started at no. 10 and did very well shifting the ball to the centres – very steady set of hands with no dropped passes and quick clearing of the ball.
James Kirk played inside centre and had an outstanding match as team captain. He put enough moves through the backfield to keep Hinckley guessing. James Kirk and Ed Crowe played well together as the centres with Ed scoring the second try and James Kirk the third try. Both tries were from se
incoln had been working on the backs moves that were falling flat since the re-start of the season in January and that work was paying off. Jack McGill was starting again at fly half and was feeding excellent clean ball out to James Kirk, inside centre then to Josh White, outside centre. This combination of centres was very effective and created a lot of space for the wings and for the full back, James Ramm, coming through the line. Ed Crowe, normally playing outside centre, had a startling game on the wing getting good ball and making great gains out wide through pace and some very nice steps and swerves through the defence. 
