LINCOLN 3RD XV 41
NEWARK 3RD XV 22
BY JOSEPH VERNEY AND TONY CLAYTON
PHOTO CREDIT: TONY CLAYTON & BRIAN PENNEY
Jake Keeton crossed for a hat-trick of tries as Lincoln’s 3rd XV avenged their recent defeat against Newark with an impressive 41-22 victory against the same opponents.
Sam Moate powered over for two tries when the two sides met a week earlier, which ended in a 22-19 victory for Newark, but this time Lincoln deservedly came out on top.
Chris Smith, Ryan Harmer, Sam Cave and Alex Brodrick also crossed for tries, with the latter also kicking three conversions as Lincoln bounced back to winning ways.
The match also saw centre Andy Donnor make his comeback to the sport at a club where he enjoyed good success earlier in his rugby career. There was also high praise for outgoing captain and manager Adam ‘Trig’ Kelleher after the match.
The rugby was hard but fair with both sides taking the opportunity to bed in some colt players in preparation for the step to senior rugby. The only negative point in the game was a nasty looking knee injury to Newark’s captain and everyone at Lincoln Rugby Club wishes him a speedy recovery.
Lincoln were quickest out of the blocks and opened up an early two try lead thanks to tries from Brodrick and Smith. Newark then hit back to outpace the host’s wide players and level the score at 12-12.
Lincoln took a narrow 17-12 lead going in at the break when Keeton crashed over after a series of set forward players.
The introduction of some of the club’s colts early in the second half changed the pace of the Lincoln attack. After half breaks by Louis Johnson and Jake Tricker, with excellent ruck retention from Bowen Jones and Callum Holden, Harmer was able to power over to score.
This did not deter Newark as they again broke out wide and with a determined dive they were judged to have touched down in the corner, despite a last-ditch tackle from Lincoln full-back Tom Law.
There were only seven points between the two sides when Newark again tried to break out wide, but the introduction of Sam Jones on the Lincoln wing brought added pace to deny the visitors any more success.
A late introduction to the game by veteran player Tony Clayton at scrum-half steadied the play and created space for Cave to pick up and crash over for a try, which Brodrick converted.
With the time almost up, Lincoln were awarded a penalty inside the Newark 22 with the hosts electing to set the scrum.
Clayton saw the mismatch and fed Adam Kelleher blind side, who crashed into contact and popped the ball inside to the charging Keeton. Keeton was well tackled, but used every inch of his height to stretch over the line for a try to complete his hat-trick with the last play of the game.
After the match outgoing third team manager and captain Adam ‘Trig’ Kelleher said: “It was great to get the win against a strong Newark side.
“We made hard work of some good attacking opportunities and didn’t kick well when we had the wind, which leaves us a bit to work on in training.
“But the positives are greater than the negatives and it’s fantastic to have some colts joining the senior rugby scene.”
Try scorer Chris Smith added: “A big thank you to Tony for sorting it all out with games and a big thanks to Trig for his time and effort over the past five years of being threes captain. All the best to Tony for stepping up as the new 3’s captain.
“It was a strong performance from everyone. We all played well as a team and showed what we can do when we play as one team.”
Incoming third team captain Tony Clayton expressed his appreciation to Newark for two great games of rugby, adding: “Newark played with heart and aggression, never giving up, they were an absolute credit to their club.”
A final word was saved for the outgoing captain and manager Trig, with Clayton saying: “On behalf of the squad, I would like to extend a huge thank you to Adam for the extensive hard work he has put in during his time in charge.
“He has been both inspirational and a driving force and we wish him well as he now looks to develop his coaching career.”
