Kesteven Rugby Club round-up

Kesteven continued their strong form following promotion to Counties 1 Midlands East (North) with an impressive 27-7 win at Burton to secure their first away victory of the season on Saturday.

Facing a well-organised Burton side, Kesteven were determined to break their away-day curse.

The game started off tightly contested, but Kesteven were first on the board with a try from Jack Palin just 15 minutes in.

Unfortunately, the conversion was missed, but the early score set the tone for Kesteven's aggressive play.

Burton responded well, executing a catch-and-drive from a line-out to score their only try of the match, which was successfully converted.

The home side briefly took the lead at 7-5, but this was the last time they troubled the scoreboard as Kesteven began to assert themselves.

Just before the half-time whistle, Conor Stewart broke through the centre with a powerful run, diving between the posts for a try. Henry Parker added the extras to give Kesteven a 7-12 lead heading into the break.

In the second half, Kesteven controlled the game, showing their growing strength in the league. Palin added his second try of the match, again converted by Parker, to extend the lead to 7-19.

Kesteven were then awarded a penalty in front of the posts giving Parker the chance to extend the lead further to 7-22

Kesteven’s fourth and bonus point-clinching try came courtesy of Dan Turner, who picked up from the back of a dominant scrum and powered over the line to seal a comprehensive 7-27 victory.

With the bonus point secured, this victory moves Kesteven up to fourth place in the league and the team are firmly leaving their mark on the competition.

Stand-out performances came from Conor Stewart, whose incisive runs caused problems all afternoon, and Dan Turner, who was deservedly named man of the match for his dominant performance around the park and his try.

They host ninth-placed Nuneaton Old Edwardians at Woodnook on Saturday.

Kesteven Under 15s started their NLD campaign with a resounding 61-5 first round victory at Grimsby.

An emphatic start saw the ball quickly passed out to captain Nate on the left wing who charged through a weak defence to score under the posts for Josh to convert.

Within minutes, a good carry by Isaac into a scrappy ruck at the halfway line sparked some slick backs moves and Nate was away again on the left with a carbon copy try, again Josh converted.

Scrum-half Jack then delivered a clean ball from a dominant scrum down the back line via Oscar and James to free up Josh down the right wing to score and convert.

With a Grimsby scrum lacking an experienced front row, the decision was taken to go to uncontested scrums for safety.

This lifted Grimsby who pushed into the Kesteven half, but the visitors' defensive pressure saw Josh clear for James to carry clear of traffic, finding Stan at full pace on the right wing for converted try number four.

Some solid ruck work from Charlie, Finn, Gabe and Finlay enabled a forwards move for Sean to break through the centre for try number five which went unconverted.

Grimsby again pushed forwards to capitalise on penalties and scored to make it 5-33 at half-time.

Out of the blocks fast in the second half saw a Jackal steal by Finn, threaded neatly to Harry on the wing to score, with Nate converting.

After a further converted try from Josh with great support from Sean and Thomas, Nate broke through again, pinging it to Finn to score.

Some textbook phase play then freed up Isaac to deliver the ninth try and the game was stopped at 5-61 to Kesteven.