SEDGLEY TIGERS 26
NOTTINGHAM  43

National Division One

ON a warm and windless afternoon the Tigers opened with some exciting champagne rugby as Chris Briers grabbed a hat-trick of tries to put his side in front at half-time.

Unfortunately, the Tigers’ bubbly approach fizzed out in a second half dominated by a better conditioned and organised Nottingham side that showed just why it has emerged the league’s surprise package this season to rise to third in the table.

The Tigers couldn’t have wished for a better start. Two minutes into the game they switched the point of attack three times before the ball was spun text-book style through the three-quarters to wing Chris Briers and he had the pace and power to crash over in the right-hand corner.

Eight minutes later a shell-shocked Nottingham were caught out again when lineout ball was driven into contact by Jon Skurr before being fed at pace along the backline for Briers to go over in the same corner to double the Tigers’ lead.

This clearly acted as an early wake-up call for the ‘Green and Whites’ as within minutes they were on the scoreboard themselves.

They switched play and quick hands found Kiwi hooker Joe Duffey out on the left and he managed to barge his way over to halve the Tigers’ lead.

Phil Jones added three more points with a 35-metre penalty kick before Nottingham hit back again to cut the Tigers’ lead to a single point.

They worked their way downfield via a series of penalties and lineouts; the third of these, five metres out, producing a catch-and-drive to the line where referee Mark Wilson adjudged the Sedgley forwards to have pulled down the maul deliberately and awarded the visitors a penalty try – the second week in succession they have been punished in such a way – and wing David Jackson added the extras to make it 13-12.

A second Jones penalty moved the score on to 16-12 before Nottingham claimed try number three to go in front for the first time.

Good pressure saw the point of attack moved a number of times creating the space needed and Jackson this time went over in the corner.

However, the Tigers were determined to go into the break in charge and possession from a scrum began an expansive attack with centre Andy Craig bursting on to the ball to break the Nottingham line before slipping a well-timed pass inside to Briers who crashed over for his hat-trick try to give the Tigers a 21-17.

If the first half belonged to the Tigers, the second belonged to the visitors, with Nottingham’s superior conditioning ensuring they dominated from the start to very nearly the finish.

Although not an entirely professional outfit yet, more and more of the Green and Whites squad are out-and-out rugby players, and it told.

As the Tigers began to tire they resorted more and more to a kicking game, which simply handed the initiative back to a fitter Nottingham, and they used it well.

Within two minutes of the restart mounting forward pressure, begun initially from simply fielding a Sedgley clearance kick, saw Nottingham with the throw-in at a lineout 10 metres from the Tigers’ line. From there a simple catch-and-drive provided Duffey with his second try to nudge his side back in front.

After two unsuccessful drop-goal attempts Nottingham again benefited from a Sedgley kick by winning the resulting lineout and after switching direction skipper Craig Hammond drove over from close range, with Jackson’s conversion moving the score onto 21-29 as the visitors began to pull away.

The Tigers tried manfully to regain a foothold but as their fitness began to wane Nottingham continued to stretch them and left wing Alex Dodge crossed for the visitor’s sixth touchdown, improved again by Jackson.

Yet another kick gave Nottingham the throw-in at a lineout and with the forwards’ pick-and-drive sucking defenders in, Jackson fed the onrushing Chris Pilgrim who bagged his side’s seventh and final try of the afternoon. Jackson’s conversion made it 21-43 and looked to have deprived the Tigers of even the solace of a bonus point in defeat.

But a final effort in time-added-on was rewarded when lineout ball was fashioned into with a series of pick-and-drives, ending with replacement prop Alistair Livesey being driven over by his fellow forwards to claim a fourth try for the Tigers and what could prove to be yet another precious bonus point.

SEDGLEY TIGERS: Hall, Van DeVenter, Craig, Payne (Riley 70), Briers, Jones, Albinson, Gazzola (Birchall 74), Roddam (Keys 74), Du Plessis (A. Livesey 70), Norris (Townson 63), Crous (Fourie 63), Newton, Ponton Skurr.
Replacement not used: Nutt.
Tries: Briers 3 and A. Livesey.
Penalties: Jones 2.

NOTTINGHAM: Nirmalendran (Hayter 71), Jackson, Smith (Pilgrim 55), Molenaar, Dodge, Thompson, Usasz (Kay 60), Parr (Fowkes 60), Duffey (Loney 52), Hopkins, Morley (Rouse 71), Raven (Stannard 55), Hammond, Sherriff, Montagu.
Tries: Duffey 2, Penalty, Jackson, Hammond, Dodge and Pilgrim.
Conversions: Jackson 4.