Nottingham 17-29 Caldy (RFU Championship) 20.01.23
It’s been a tough few months for Nottingham Rugby Club who slip to ninth in the table after a home defeat against Caldy, the Archers ninth loss in a row since their last victory in October at home to Richmond.
It hasn’t been all doom and gloom, some decent performances against the likes of Bedford and Jersey have shown that Nottingham can compete with those around the top, but after a good start to the season in which they won four of their first six matches, the side have been in free-fall ever since and have a current record of 4 wins and 8 losses from their 12 RFU Championship games played.
Against Caldy, Nottingham fell 0-7 down after Jordan Olowofela was yellow carded with a converted try on twelve minutes but pushed themselves back level just a few minutes later when Ryan Olowofela went over before Jack Neville converted the extras.
Although Nottingham pushed, the scores stayed level until two minutes before the break where the away side regained advantage, driving a maul over the Archers try line it was Ollie Hearn credited for his second of the evening, although the conversion was missed by Elliott Gourlay.
In the second half, Caldy extended their lead to 7-19 as Chris Pilgrim went over with Gourlay this time making no mistake to convert. David Williams responded with a try to Nottingham in the corner which Bunting then failed to kick through the posts, after some home side pressure the visitors were then relieved to win a penalty on the hour with Gourlay kicking three points to again sway the tie further in Caldy’s advantage. That lead was widened with a converted try on 66 as Dickinson went over following a maul.
Late on, Nottingham pushed and grabbed a third try as Green raced past his man to put down on 80, whilst Bunting couldn’t provide the two points it was a defeat by twelve against a side that leap frog them in the table.
Next up Nottingham face Doncaster on Saturday in South Yorkshire, one of the four teams the Archers have managed to beat already this season, their opponents in sixth spot will be hoping to avoid double defeat, whilst Nottingham will be hoping it won’t be ten in a row.
Starting Team: Aniseko Sio, Jack Dickinson, Ben Betts, Callum Allen, Iosefa Maloney, Scott Hall, Nathan Tweedy, Josh Poullet, Liam Slatem, Jack Neville, Ryan Olowofela, Phil Cokanasiga, Marcus Ramage, David Williams, Jordan Olowofela.
Replacements: Harry Clayton, Toby Williams, Liam Bishop, Ross Bundy, George Cox, Michael Stronge, Michael Green, Morgan Bunting.
*Main image @NottinghamRugby another defeat for Nottingham who are without a win in nine.
