LINCOLN COLTS 31
ASHBOURNE COLTS 10
NLD CUP - ROUND 1
BY JOSEPH VERNEY
Finn McKenna and Morgan Jones grabbed a brace of tries apiece as Lincoln Colts advanced through to the next round of the NLD Cup with a 31-10 home win over Ashbourne.
Ollie Lennon also scored a try for the hosts with Kyran Makinson and James Tomlinson kicking the conversions.
Lincoln didn’t have it all their own way though and fell behind inside the opening five minutes. After being penalised for going in at the side of a ruck, Lincoln conceded a penalty and Ashbourne successfully slotted over the three points.
Lincoln finally started to get a bit of possession in the opposition half and put Ashbourne’s defence under pressure.
Ashbourne managed to clear their lines, but didn’t retire so Lincoln were awarded a penalty inside the 22 and opted for a scrum. After going right and powering forward with a couple of drives, Lincoln produced two phases back infield and spread the ball wide for McKenna to run in for a try.
Lincoln put more repeated pressure on Ashbourne before unfortunately losing their own lineout. However, Ashbourne made a mess to the resulting lineout and took the ball to their own try line and ended up conceding a scrum. Zane Redfern then went blind before the ball went through two hands to set up a try for Jones.
The hosts butchered a three-on-one chance soon after, but were not to be deterred as they recycled quickly from a ruck and produced some good phase play. Lennon then turned back inside and ran from the 22 and powered through three players to go over for a try, which Makinson converted.
Ashbourne reduced the deficit to 17-10 with a try in the closing stages of the first half. Due to some miscommunication Lincoln thought an Ashbourne player had stepped into touch and, with their defence asleep, the visitors were able to run in for a try.
Lincoln increased their lead after their opponents lost a lineout in the middle of the pitch and were then penalised for holding on. The hosts took a quick penalty and drive straight down the middle to near the halfway line.
After sucking in the Ashbourne defence, Lincoln worked the ball out wide through some brilliant hands to set up McKenna, who ran around the full-back and under the posts for a try. Tomlinson added the extras.
McKenna was soon involved again as he went on a run and sent two players the wrong way, before eventually being tackled.
The ball was popped up to the forwards who were backing up before Lincoln recycled it through the backs. Jones, now playing at centre, collected the ball as he went over the 22 and he stepped inside two players and knocked the full-back off to go over for a try.
With 15 minutes left to play, Lincoln were winning 31-10 and Ashbourne lost a player to a yellow card. After one of their front row players went down with a head knock, Ashbourne were unable to replace him and as a result conceded the cup tie.
Although the result was declared, Lincoln lent a player to their opponents and allowed the sin binned player to come back on so that the rest of the game could continue .
In this time Lincoln added a further two tries with McKenna breaking and setting up a try for Kieron Fields. Stan Matthews then broke through from about 75 metres out, beating all the of the Ashbourne defence to run in for a try under the posts.
POST MATCH COMMENT
After the match Lincoln Colts coach Brian Kelly said: “The Colts bounced back from the defeat in the National Cup by showing exactly what they were capable of.
“There were no gifted tries, a fully dominant scrum, complete lineout execution and some amazing open play.
“I am really proud of how the boys applied themselves. They produced some real highlight reel tries.”
