Castle Donington Allow Leesbrook to Take the Spoils in Cup Double Header

In an enthralling cup tie between two local sides, which was to count towards both the Derbyshire Shield and the NLD Plate competitions, Leesbrook ran out 14-28 winners. They outscored their hosts by 4 tries to 2 and, in fairness, probably created more scoring opportunities as well. Having been drawn together in the opening rounds of both competitions the two clubs had sportingly agreed to play the match and have the result count in both competitions. This decision perhaps, in part, reflects the tough times that both clubs have undergone, both having had their very existence called into doubt in recent times. The fact that they served up such an entertaining spectacle between them suggests that the hard work that they have put in during the closed season may be rewarded for both clubs.

The opening encounters were evenly contested and Leesbrook took the lead with a well struck penalty by their fly half. Castle Donington responded with some well controlled phases of play which saw the forwards driving them up the field. It was fitting, therefore, that it was tight head prop, Neil Whitehead, who was on the end of the final pass and drove over for a try, converted by Simon Moon. This score served to sting Leesbrook into action and they penned Castle Donington back into their own half with sustained pressure. The Castle Donington defence, which has looked decidedly rusty over the past couple of weeks was holding firm but it was finally breached with a well weighted chip to the corner which was touched down for a try. The conversion was to sail wide but Leesbrook had retaken the lead and extended it further with two more tries before half time as the home team’s defence started to creak.

Turning around 7-20 down Castle Donington began the second period with a renewed vigour and it was the hosts who again were exerting the greater pressure. This time it was the Leesbrook defence which was opened up with a nicely executed chip from Scrum Half, Mark Boddy, for Centre Rick Bentley to run onto. Bentley gathered the ball in full stride and looked likely to go over himself but seeing the cover coming across he, unselfishly, fed the ball back inside to the supporting Boddy who managed to force his way through an attempted tackle to ground the ball. Moon again converted the score to close the gap to 14-20. The game then ebbed and flowed from end to end for a while as attacks by both sides were repelled with, sometimes sterling and sometimes shaky, defence. Castle Donington were the ones who succumbed as their fringe defence finally let them down and Leesbrook extended their lead to 14-25, the game now seemingly beyond them Castle Donington still showed great spirit in mounting further attacks, however, it was Leesbrook who were to round off the scoring for the day with a final penalty to make the score 14-28.

The game drew to a close as Castle Donington, still pressing for a score, turned over possession in the Leesbrook 22. Leesbrook cleared the ball downfield and Castle Donington Full Back, Chris Holt, playing for the first time in that position, spoilt an otherwise faultless display by knocking on, allowing the referee to blow the final whistle and Leesbrook to celebrate a hard fought victory. It later transpired that Holt had lost one of his contact lenses during the second half and had continued playing with blurred vision, which explained why he misjudged that final high ball. Still more hard work ahead for Castle Donington in order for them to achieve that elusive first win of the season but signs of progress have been evident week on week. Don’t be the one to miss out when it happens, Castle Donington play at home again this weekend as they open their league campaign against Skegness, 3pm kick off at the Spital.

Castle Donington 1st XV V’s Leesbrook 1st XV;
Holt, Lee, Cook, Bentley, Lewis, Moon, Boddy, Bradley, Dykes, Whitehead, Evans, Harris, Summers, Michaud, White (Capt).
Replacements; Harrison, Millington.