BackSat 27 Nov 2021 ·  Midlands 4 East (N) West
Chesterfield Panthers
1st XV
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Moderns win in the wet!
Stephen Mason4 Oct 2021 - 10:57
Moderns win in the first of four games against the previously unbeaten Panthers
A very wet a day at Ferryfields saw a clash of the top two sides of the table. Running rugby would not be the winner and instead an arm wrestle was predicted.
A tense opening 20 minutes passed without a score before Marcus went off injured having been hit high and late by the Chesterfield number 8 off the base of the scrum. A yellow card was soon issued leaving Moderns a man up.
The man advantage nearly paid dividends as Moderns went close in the corner. Unfortunately Nick Mapley chose this moment to get a red card for not fighting back against Chesterfield's 9 and 15. A red was also dished out to their 15 for his throwing down of the glove.
It was at this point Jack Palmer arrived an hour or so late, hungover and sounding like Mariella Frostrup and with it the scoring started. Nick Halstead running around the short Panthers defence to go in the corner. Dylan Jowett slotted the kick from out wide.
At this point it must be noted that a loved up Louis O'Connor was spotted having cut short a romantic anniversary weekend away in London with his girlfriend. He had brought his boots but even the magic of Harry Potter world couldn't get him back in time for kick off.
Half time - Moderns 7 Panthers 0
A quick turn around at half time saw Moderns head down the slope and into the rain which had abated slightly. Chesterfield's adventurous saw play limited to 5 yards from the break down and a wet ball played into their hands as their extra forward helped bring some scrum domination.
Moderns put up a solid fight in defence however and our extra man in the back field started to bear fruit with Nick Halstead, Miles Swann and Ash Woodward pulling their opposing back two all over the place.
One highlight of their back three play saw Nick Halstead fluff a 50/22 and accidentally put in a perfect cross field for Miles Swann. Both were strong contenders for dick of the day for such an awful kick and rescuing such a kick.
With 20 minutes to, Chesterfield screwed up a line out 5 yards from their own line, the ball being dropped by their fly half and skipper Will Greenwood falling onto it to put Moderns 14 - 0 up.
Moderns defence held strong and continued to exert pressure until 3 minutes from time when Ashley Woodward decided to clinch the grand prize of Dick of the Day by putting an attempted drop kick wide. What truly qualifies this as a crime worthy of such an illustrious prize was the fact Nick Halstead and the rest of the back line had a hefty overlap outside of him to coast through and the fact the Chesterfield 13 got the ball after the kick out, ran the length and scored to make it 14 - 5.
Man of the match was close. Richard Hall put in many crunching tackles with his face, despite this he's still managed to persuade Ruby to marry him (
Congratulations
from all of us!) However, a decision was made by the glorious supporters on the sideline that Morgan Brown deserved it for valiantly running touch all day in the rain and not managing to get on to play in such a tight game.
A tense opening 20 minutes passed without a score before Marcus went off injured having been hit high and late by the Chesterfield number 8 off the base of the scrum. A yellow card was soon issued leaving Moderns a man up.
The man advantage nearly paid dividends as Moderns went close in the corner. Unfortunately Nick Mapley chose this moment to get a red card for not fighting back against Chesterfield's 9 and 15. A red was also dished out to their 15 for his throwing down of the glove.
It was at this point Jack Palmer arrived an hour or so late, hungover and sounding like Mariella Frostrup and with it the scoring started. Nick Halstead running around the short Panthers defence to go in the corner. Dylan Jowett slotted the kick from out wide.
At this point it must be noted that a loved up Louis O'Connor was spotted having cut short a romantic anniversary weekend away in London with his girlfriend. He had brought his boots but even the magic of Harry Potter world couldn't get him back in time for kick off.
Half time - Moderns 7 Panthers 0
A quick turn around at half time saw Moderns head down the slope and into the rain which had abated slightly. Chesterfield's adventurous saw play limited to 5 yards from the break down and a wet ball played into their hands as their extra forward helped bring some scrum domination.
Moderns put up a solid fight in defence however and our extra man in the back field started to bear fruit with Nick Halstead, Miles Swann and Ash Woodward pulling their opposing back two all over the place.
One highlight of their back three play saw Nick Halstead fluff a 50/22 and accidentally put in a perfect cross field for Miles Swann. Both were strong contenders for dick of the day for such an awful kick and rescuing such a kick.
With 20 minutes to, Chesterfield screwed up a line out 5 yards from their own line, the ball being dropped by their fly half and skipper Will Greenwood falling onto it to put Moderns 14 - 0 up.
Moderns defence held strong and continued to exert pressure until 3 minutes from time when Ashley Woodward decided to clinch the grand prize of Dick of the Day by putting an attempted drop kick wide. What truly qualifies this as a crime worthy of such an illustrious prize was the fact Nick Halstead and the rest of the back line had a hefty overlap outside of him to coast through and the fact the Chesterfield 13 got the ball after the kick out, ran the length and scored to make it 14 - 5.
Man of the match was close. Richard Hall put in many crunching tackles with his face, despite this he's still managed to persuade Ruby to marry him (
Congratulations
from all of us!) However, a decision was made by the glorious supporters on the sideline that Morgan Brown deserved it for valiantly running touch all day in the rain and not managing to get on to play in such a tight game.
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