KEYWORTH 2ND XV 22
LINCOLN 3RD XV 20
NLD MEN’S JUNIOR XV SHIELD
BY JOSEPH VERNEY

Lincoln’s 3rd XV pushed Keyworth all the way in a battling 22-20 defeat in the NLD Shield.

Aron Smith, Neil McKenna and Stan Matthews all scored tries for Lincoln, with the latter also slotting over a conversion and a penalty.

Lincoln started the game strongly and opened the scoring inside the opening five minutes of the match.


After Keyworth dropped the ball forward, Elliott Tulloch picked it up before Paul Swaby offloaded to Matthews, who in turn set up Kodi Strand. Strand carried and took a ruck before Swaby passed to Matthews and the young fly-half stepped a defender and ran in for a try under the posts, which he also converted.

A dropped ball by Lincoln then allowed Keyworth to kick through and score under the posts to level matters.

Both teams battled hard, but it was Keyworth who scored the next two tries to take a 17-7 lead in at the break.

Keyworth scored first in the second half, but a determined Lincoln side reduced the deficit when Matthews slotted over a penalty.

Lincoln refused to give up and took the game right to the wire. After good play to the right of the field, and a few phases back cross, Matthews offloaded to Al Seaward, who passed to Chris Smith. Smith went through the line before popping the ball to his brother Aron, who powered over for a try.

With just three minutes left, and after multiple phases in the 22, Lincoln applied more pressure and worked to an edge. After good hands in the backs, Seaward offloaded the ball to McKenna, who crashed over for a try in the corner.

Matthews missed a difficult conversion as Lincoln lost by just two points, but the visitors can be proud of their efforts, especially in the second half.

POST MATCH COMMENTS

After the match Lincoln’s 3rd XV Team Manager Tom Wilson said: “It was a performance to be proud of against a heavy Keyworth team. We took them all the way to the end.

“Some great play at times, but we lacked the consistency we are aiming for. Lots to work on ahead of our next game.”

Lincoln’s 3rd XV captain Daz Rorie said: “I am really proud of everybody especially the second half performance which was fantastic. It’s just a shame there were only a few minutes left or I think we would have taken the win, but roll on next week. Everybody did fantastic.”