Overpowered Up Front

Nomads had to relocate to Dursley for this league Fixture and arrived to find horizontal hail and rain accompanied by a strengthening wind leading to some of the coldest conditions experienced for a long while. A sloping pitch and the elements would certainly play a large part in the afternoon’s events.
1 Chris Smith 2 Sam Davies 3 Damien Cox 4 Hector Macdonald 5 Lee Marshall 6 Mark Phillips 7 Tom Flanagan 8 Connor Voyce 9 Joe Ashenford 10 Lex Brookes 11 Chad Williams 12 Cory Baker 13 Joe Little 14 Tom Taylor 15 Chris Toon Replacements: Vegas, Tom Withington, Tom Waring, Callum Gibbs, James Nash, Jake Marsh, Jordan Phipps.
Dursley kicked off into the wind and immediately were under pressure as their kick-off didn’t travel 10m. Scrum ball was secured however not convincingly, which would be a sign of things to come. Ashenford and Brookes looked to spread play wider and found Toon as ever willing to run the strong line. Nomads began to go through their forward phases with Marshall, Phillips and Voyce all carrying well. The Dursley defence however was solid and well-organised and eventually Ashenford had to resort to a kick ahead to make any significant ground. Good pressure from Flanagan at the line-out forced scrappy ball that Dursley struggled to move away from their line. Solid first up tackling from Davies and Phillips stopped Dursley’s much large ball carriers and Baker and Toon were equally as adept when the ball went wider. Phillips and Voyce combined to force a penalty inside the Dursley 22. With the lineout being a bit of a lottery in the hail and wind, Nomads opted for a scrum. Voyce picked and fed Baker on a hard line, which sucked in a number of defenders. Quick ball enabled a switch in play from Ashenford to feed Brookes on the left and the fly-half drew in two defenders before finding Toon steaming through the gap to score wide on the left. Ashenford converted. 0-7.
Despite the advantage of the wind, the numbing chill of the rain and hail was making handling difficult for both sides and errors were plentiful. Nomads always showed ambition and looked to run the ball when in hindsight kicking for territory may have been the better option. Dursley had no choice but to keep it tight playing into the wind and used their sizeable pack to good effect with pick and goes and tight carries. From a carry by their centre, the home side must of go through up to a dozen short range carries before a pick and go from their Number 8 allowed him to crash over by the posts. Try Converted 7-7.
Nomads retained their positive approach and an excellent kick chase from Macdonald and Williams forced an error that was snapped up by Voyce. Ashenford went blind and excellent interplay between Little and Williams released the winger to make a powerful surge up the left wing before kicking ahead. Little chased hard and looked as though me would make the touchdown but agonisingly the ball bobbled away from him for the defence to ground. (Vegas replaced Cox) Marshall secured the 22 drop out and Nomads continued to press. Voyce and Phiilips continued to be at the forefront of the forward carries and drove up to the 22. An infringement at the breakdown from Dursley gave Ashenford the opportunity to show firstly his awareness then his searing acceleration to take a quick tap and scorch through the opposition defence to cross in the corner. 7-12.
Half Time​Dursley 2nd XV​7​Stroud Nomads ​12
Turning to face the elements, Nomads knew they literally had an uphill battle. Making use of their squad Nomads made a number of changes. Withington replaced Phillips, Waring replaced Taylor with Flanagan moving out to the wing. Toon moved up to Centre to replace Little with Marsh entering the fray at Full Back.
Dursley instantly showed their game plan with a huge clearance kick instantly returning play deep inside the Nomads half. The lineout only provided scrappy ball that was cleared up by Williams but Dursley were able to repel any forward momentum from the Stroud carriers. Eventually, Nomads were penalised for holding on, which allowed Dursley to kick for the corner. A cohesive lineout drive was well countered with excellent work from Macdonald and Waring but another strong pick and go forced a Dursley forward over to level the scores. 12-12.
Although the rain was easing, the wind if anything was strengthen and Dursley continued to use this to their advantage again kicking deep and forcing errors from the Nomads. In an almost carbon copy of their previous try a series of pick and goes was finished off with a powerful drive from their Number 8. 17-12.
(Nash replaced Williams while Cox returned in place of Vegas). Excellent work from Voyce forced a turnover, which resulted in a half break by Ashenford that almost saw him free only to be dragged down by the scrambling defence. He was however able to offload to Brookes, who continued the momentum. Voyce provided the link to Marsh, who found Flanagan cutting a line in off his wing. Unfortunately, the last pass went to ground allowing Dursley to clear. (Ashenford suffered a head injury in this passage of play and was replaced by Gibbs). Nomads continued to press with Brookes and Marsh combining to collect a clearance and take play back up the slope. Macdonald and Marshall carried before Gibbs linked with Brookes. Excellent hands released Baker, whose well-timed pass gave Marsh a run to the line. (Toon’s con version looked to be sailing towards the posts but the wind blew it back and the scores remained level). 17-17.
Despite this equalising score, there were worrying signs for the Nomads with the scrum now appearing to be under real pressure from the Dursley pack. Forced back into their own 22 regularly, Nomads struggled to get out of the shadow of their own posts and were soon made to pay for not taking advantage of the elements in the first half. Solid tackling from Davies and Smith stopped a Dursley carry close to the line but huge pressure at the scrum forced Nomads back beyond their line despite brave work from Voyce. Inevitably, with the put in Dursley surged forward for their Number 8 to touch down for his third try of the afternoon. 22-17.
With 15 minutes to go, Phipps replaced Baker with Marsh moving into the centre. The backs however were totally starved of ball and Dursley capitalised on their scrum dominance with two more pushover tries from their Number 8. 32-17.
With the final play the Dursley backs finally got into the action when the ball was released after a series of close drives for the backs to show efficient handling for their winger to score in the corner. 37-17.
Full Time​Dursley 2nd XV 37​Stroud Nomads 17
This was a disappointing afternoon for the Nomads with not making the most of the elements and their opportunities in the first half ultimately costing them the game. The scrum is an issue that will need to be addressed as too often this year games have been played with uncontested scrummaging and when faced with a cohesive pack, Nomads did not have an answer to Dursley’s dominance. Nomads return to action next Saturday with a scheduled game at Fromehall v Cirencester 2nd XV (KO 1430).