Trinity Guild Humble Castle Donington in Junior Vase

 

Castle Donington travelled with yet another makeshift side, desperately trying to get their season back on track. A season which has shown signs that the club is in recovery is now in desperate need of a boost. Without first team regulars Rick Bentley, Mark Boddy, Ollie Clarke, Chris Holt and Jean-Eudes Michaud, former 1st XV players who have returned this season Chris Dabell, Dan Keeling and Julian Key and promising newcomers Dean Meakin and Kyle Brentnall Donington’s resources are wearing thin. With such limited resources and too many players playing out of position it was always going to be a difficult day for Donington.

A try from the home side in the first few minutes caught Donington on the hop.  From the restart weak tackling on the wing allowed Trinity to reach the half way line. Showing that they knew their ground and wind direction, the home side kicked, to send the ball over the opposite touch line. From the resulting lineout Donington stole the ball and set up a series of rucks, making ground steadily with forwards Alan White and Steven Bradley, along with centre Matt Kibble, putting in some crushing runs off the pick and go. This ploy enabled Donington to move into opposition territory before the ball was fed to fly half Simon Moon, returning from his enforced absence following his concussion against Belper, to place a precision kick into touch 5 metres from the Trinity Guild try line. Taking the opposition ball Donington put on some great forward pressure with Captain Alan White putting the ball down for a try. Unfortunately, following such a good nudge to touch, Mr. Moon missed the conversion. From this point it looked like a well fought game was developing, however, from the restart the Donington defence fell into disarray as 6 missed tackles resulted in a quick reply from the home side with a try and conversion.

On a windy day throwing to the line out was proving difficult for both sides, though seemingly unaffected by the wind the Donington number 10’s boot showed unerring precision finding touch with regularity. This precision could not be matched with the throw in to the line, and on Trinity’s 5 metre line Donington could not take the ball. Capitalising on the error, Trinity showed some basic passing skills along the back line which, when combined with Donington’s woeful tackling and poor defensive line, put the home side back in Donington’s half. A scrum on the halfway line set a platform for Trinity to run at Donington’s wing, somehow sensing that the visiting team would not tackle below the shoulders, once more allowing another try but missed conversion.

From the restart some good pressure and a resulting penalty saw a nudge to touch on the home side’s 5 metre line within seconds of the restart. This time the moment was seized with both of Darren Summers’ hands as he rose to take the ball, once down one of Donington’s trade mark driving mauls was formed and Donington drove back the opposition to see Kevin Wood place the ball over the line fro his first try in 4 years. The try again was left unconverted.

With to and fro action between the two sides it was a stolen ball in a scrum that saw the home side pile pressure on Donington’s defence. A dropped ball over the try line was the only thing which stopped another score by the home side. Although valiant in defence, the pressure proved too much for Donington as Trinity put over another try and made the conversion. From the restart one of Trinity’s wingers ran the touch line skipping through the Donington defence with only Gareth Whittaker’s try stopping tackle preventing more points on the board. A kick to touch for Donington followed shortly after, only to lose the ball to the opposition. Again, simple passing and a lack of defensive line and tackling from the visitors saw another try but missed conversion. Seemingly wishing for the half time whistle Donington looked asleep as the ball was run back to their 22 from the restart. A break down ensued, however, Trinity recycled the ball well and were quickest to act and another try was scored.

The second half was played out with little of note for Castle Donington followers. The steady flow of tries from Trinity Guild continued unabated and the Trinity Guild right wing must have thought it was Christmas as he ran in try after try. One plus point for Donington was the second half appearance by scrum half Matt Mansfield, a late call up to the squad following the cancellation of the 2nd XV match, and who has recently returned to the club having not played rugby for some years. Whilst disappointed with their own day’s work Castle Donington would like to extend a special thanks and congratulations to Trinity Guild, who showed great hospitality throughout the day, and wish them all the best for the next round of the Junior Vase and, indeed, the rest of their season.  The players, officials and spectators of Trinity Guild were a credit to their club and to the game of rugby.

Looking to the future, Bentley and Clarke will be available for selection again next week for the league fixture against Dronfield, kick off 3pm at The Spital. It is hoped that Boddy and Michaud may also be available for this game. Other former 1st XV players Piers Goode and Ollie Saffell have recently returned to training with the club and, along with Ben Symcox, recently returned from his trip to Vegas, it is hoped that we might see them on a 1st XV pitch again soon. With such a long list of players unavailable it is understandable that recent results have fallen short of expectations but the list of names which may soon be available for selection should enable all followers of Castle Donington RUFC to hold high hopes for the remainder of the season.

Castle Donington 1st XV V’s Trinity Guild 1st XV;
Whittaker, Lee, Cook, Kibble M, Millington, Moon, Lewis, Whitehead, Harrison, Wood, Harris, Bradley, Dykes, Summers, White (Capt).
Replacements; Robinson, Mansfield