MATCH REPORT BY MARK SAMAK

Buoyed by two victories in their previous games, the Nomads made the short trip over the hill to Gloucester to face Gordon League.

Unfortunately, due to a number of last-minute drop-outs, Nomads were only able to field 12 players however the opposition kindly loaned two players to allow a 14 a-side game to go ahead.

1 Lee Marshall 2 Owen Winstone 3 Bailey Beale 4 Joe Moylan 5 James Ferry 6 Sam Davies 7 Mark Phillips 8 Mark Samak 9 GL Loan 10 Lewis Holder 11GL Loan 12 Jacob Clutterbuck 13 Fin Hill 14 Josh Jenkins.

Nomads kicked off and immediately put pressure on League. Solid first up tackling from the back-row trio of Davies, Phillips and Samak and Clutterbuck in the centre forced the home side into a number of early errors allowing the Nomads to have the bulk of the territory and possession in the opening 15 minutes. Nomads were however unable to capitalise on this with League competing well at the breakdown and stifling any form of quick ball. The scrum was uncontested, due to League being unable to field a front row but the line-out was keenly fought with Ferry and Moylan winning their fair share of possession from Winstone’s throws.

The first score of the afternoon came from more Nomads pressure however a loose pass was picked up by League, who immediately spread the ball wide to one of their powerful centres, who made good ground before finding the scrum-half supporting on the inside to cross. Two further tries followed; again, these were through good handling from League and exploiting space on the outside of the Nomads defence.
At 17-0 down, it would have been easy to Nomads heads to drop but an immediate response ensued. Good work in defence from Moylan forced an error – the resultant scrum allowed Samak to pick and feed the scrum-half, who did well to find Hill running an excellent line to break through the tackle to score. An excellent conversion from out wide by Holder narrowed the gap. 17-7.

League were soon back on the attack after Nomads lost the ball in contact and again were able to exploit space and cross out wide. 22-7.
Competition at the breakdown was prevalent all afternoon from both sides and a trade-mark strong turnover from Phillips re-gained the ball. Samak carried on the momentum before Beale and Moylan took play deep into the League 22. Going blind, the scrum-half found Hill, who fed Phillips to crash over in the right-hand corner. 22-12.

Half Time Gordon League 2nds 22 Stroud Nomads 12

Nomads started the second half as they had the first – on the front foot. Marshall, as ever, was secure under the re-start and made good ground. Holder immediately spread the ball to Clutterbuck, whose powerful burst took play well over the half way line. Strong carries from Samak and then Phillips then allowed Holder to again spread play wider. Clutterbuck this time fed Hill, whose half-break gave the chance for quick ball. Bringing play back to the left, Holder found Samak running a strong line allowing him to break the tackle to score. 22-17.

With Marshall continuing to show his ability in securing restarts and Clutterbuck, who was now showing his dominance in the wider channels, despite being up against two strong centres from League, Nomads really had the momentum. A number of strong carries from Clutterbuck and Moylan gave Nomads territory and after a number of phases this resulted in a well-deserved score. Holder converted. 22-24.

League continued to exploit the space out wide and were soon back in the lead resulting from loose ball from a Nomads attack being collected and good inter-passing allowing their centre to run around under the posts. 29-24.

Nomads unfortunately, had to play the last 15 minutes with only 13 men due to injury. Despite brave defensive work from Moylan, Davies and Phillips, League were able to cross for two late scores. This gave a slightly imbalanced score line to what was a vey close game, played in great spirit by both sides.

Full Time Gordon League 2nds 39 Stroud Nomads 24

Thanks to Gordon League for the loan of two players, which enabled the game to go ahead. Stroud look forward to welcoming Gordon League 2 for a potential Friday night fixture in the New Year.