Long Eaton, Saturday 8th September, Away, Won 17-10
Rolls-Royce began the season proper with a hard-fought 17-10 victory at Long Eaton in the NLD Cup.
The Royces’ line up was boosted by the competitive debuts of Luke Daignault in the front row, Sean Canty in the centre and Shane McNamara on the wing, along with the return of some veteran nous with Team Dad at 2 (don’t tell Mrs. Dad) and Ian Baker in the back row.
Long Eaton started the match strongly, with their large and powerful pack making possession hard to come by for Rolls-Royce. The majority of play for the first thirty minutes was spent in the Rolls-Royce 22 with two solid unconverted tries resulting from this period of pressure. Long Eaton looked the better side but Royces’ last-ditch defence up front in this period was generally strong – conceding only two tries given the amount of field position and possession the opposition enjoyed meant that the game was by no means over.
For the last ten minutes of the first half Royces started to play the game in the other half of the pitch as the Long Eaton pack showed signs of tiring. Once given some territory and possession, the RRRFC backline was able to work the ball wide and cut the opposition open. A fine run by McNamara was supported by Jon Peacock coming into play from full-back to set up Ian Baker. The number 8 was stopped inches from the line but quick thinking from skipper McLaughlin saw him recycle the ball and cross the line for Royces’ first points. Macca then added the conversion from wide out on the left.
Royces were back on the scoreboard again before half time with a fine effort from Macca – dummying before sidestepping in trademark fashion to cross the line. A further jink in the in-goal area made the conversion a formality.
The second half saw a much more even affair, with Royces’ fitness up front starting to show. We were able to relieve pressure with touch-finding kicks on a regular basis, with Duncan and Andy T winning all our own line out ball and a lot from the opposition. The effectiveness of these two and their lifters meant that International Olympic Volleyball Superstar Dan Sanderson was not sorely missed.
Long Eaton continued to win their fair share of ball but often kicked this over the top where Jon P and Mat the Tat did a fine job of tidying the scraps up. The pressure we were able to apply resulted in two further penalty opportunities, of which Macca converted one. The final 20 minutes were an edgy affair with Long Eaton occasionally releasing members of their pacy back three, however the Royces’ cover defence was always just about able to make the tackle. There remained enough time for Warren to get absolutely steamrollered by the Long Eaton hooker, for Dave to put in his trademark dump of the day (shame the whistle had gone 30 yards back…) and for Dunce to get sick even though he wasn’t playing before the final whistle blew.
Both Rolls-Royce and Long Eaton showed plenty of passion and commitment in a tensely competed match.
Next week sees RRRFC 1st XV travel to East Retford to open their season in Midlands 5 East (N) whilst the 2nd XV host Ripley Rhinos.
Ed Barker