Kesteven Ladies beat Scunthorpe in the Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire Cup competition

Kesteven Ladies secured their progression to the second round of the NLD Cup following a 56-12 victory against Scunthorpe on Sunday.

The ladies set out to have a better start against an opposition they had not faced for a couple of seasons and to follow their game plan to avoid having to chase the scoreline like the previous weekend's league game.

They certainly achieved this by dominating possession throughout the first half.

With some great hands and strong running lines, the ladies were able to move the play from one side of the pitch to the other and back again to allow Jess Castell-Smith to open the scoring with her first of the game after a strong drive to the line.

The restart was gathered by Megan Jones who made valuable metres back towards Scunthorpe's half, however, a played advantage meant the visitors were able to get the ball to their pace on the wing which brought the scores level.

A quickly-taken penalty from the restart allowed the ladies to again enter the 22 but a thwarted lineout meant they were forced to defend.

A series of knock ons and scrums followed before a strong drive to the line got Farmer her first try of the day.

Kesteven continued to dominate possession and maintained strong attacking play with a further two tries following in close succession.

A try saving tackle from Hannah Weston Smith meant the visitors were kept from narrowing the gap further - although shortly after, a knocked-on ball was gathered which again saw the ball reach their outside speedster who ran in a try untroubled by the home side.

Kesteven regained control as an unguarded channel was all the invitation needed by the home side flanker who made several metres before being brought down and it was left to scrum half Ami Baxter to capitalise and cross the line to make the first half score 27-12.

Determined to continue their great efforts in the second half, the ladies started strongly and continued to dominate possession which soon led to another try for Castell-Smith.

The visitors then regained some momentum and enjoyed a visit to the Kesteven 22 but a great defensive effort from the ladies made sure they were put under pressure and not able to capitalise.

A resulting penalty meant K’s were able to make good ground down the wing before resetting and allowing Megan Alderton to change the direction of play and force her way over the line.

In what was horrible and wet conditions, the game continued with several knock ons and resulting scrums.

But, once the ball had reached winger Aimee Goument, there was no let up and her final charge of the day came from Kesteven’s own 22 to cross the line under the posts.

It capped a great effort from the whole team who handed debuts to Jenna Draycott and Sherrie Christian.

Tries came from Jess Castell-Smith (two), Hermione Farmer (three), Megan Alderton, Ami Baxter, Kelly King (two), Aimee Goument with conversions from Amy Brumhead and Zoe Osborn (two).

The ladies now look forward to getting back to their league campaign this Sunday when they host leaders Sheffield Tigers.

Kesteven men's first team were beaten 26-19 at Southwell on Saturday in their Counties 1 Midlands East (North) clash.

The second team lost 38-14 at Quorn in the NLD Merit Table West (South).