Newark lying in wait for the Ampthill mob
Newark Rugby Club are aiming to find the form that has carried them to successive away wins when they host Ampthill in Midlands Two East at Kelham Road tomorrow (3pm).
A strong second-half performance carried Newark to a fine 23-12 win at Market Bosworth at the weekend, following an opening day win at local rivals Mansfield. In between, the Blue and Whites slipped up at home when Scunthorpe won 34-25.
Centre Chris Tate and substitutes lock David Rhodes and winger Jamie Eveleigh made their debuts against Bosworth while former Colts winger Russell Westcott made his first start after previously appearing as a replacement.
Rhodes, who has joined from Nottingham Corsairs, quickly made his presence felt in the second half by scoring a try off a maul, while the other tries came from David Fagan and Michael Dobson, and Danny Coen added two penalties and a conversion.
Mellish 3 - Newark 2nds 56
Newark 2nds followed up an encouraging win over Scunthorpe by running Mellish off their feet at Mapperley.
Backs Mark Miller and Alex Moore contributed two tries each and one apiece came from forwards Ian Tomlinson, Craig Hawes and Will Naylor, who was back playing after a shoulder injury
The other try was supplied by full-back Andy Hill, while Matt Clark provided the kicks to amass 16 points.
Newark 3rds 12 - Nottm Medics 59
A try by newcomer Ed Nelson was the highlight of a second successive heavy defeat for Newark 3rds, and a late try by Tom Lee, which he converted himself, reduced the victory margin for a visiting team who were just too quick.
Newark 4ths 12 - Ripley Rhinos 21
A disastrous first half when Newark conceded 21 points proved too big a hurdle despite a fine second half.
Winger Danny White, on his stag weekend, grabbed one try, and veteran Richard Bunn touched down for his fourth try of the campaign so far. Richard Macfarlane converted the first score with a drop kick.
Boston Colts 17 - Newark Colts 40
A hat-trick of tries from full-back Reece Overland helped Newark Colts to an easy win at Boston.
The match was played as a friendly after the Lincolnshire team decided to pull out of the proposed National Colts Cup game.
Newark earned a walkover, but a match was still staged, with the other tries coming from Lewis Strellis (2), full-back Jonny Codling, prop Jonny Watson and winger Tom Webb.
The Colts play Spalding on Sunday at Kelham Road, kick- off 11am.
Newark U-13s 56 - Kesteven 12
Newark Under-13s gave a fine performance against Kesteven and were rewarded with tries from Jake Turner (3) Will Lyon (2) Keegan Monteiro (2) Harry Adams, Rupert Innes and Declan Hursthouse, and three Ben Dixon conversions.
Southwell U-17s 29 - Mansfield 0
The Southwell players observed a minute’s silence in memory of their friends and classmates Max Dixon and James Moodie before the game.
The mood then turned to celebration with a fine performance rewarded with tries from Jack Skill (2) Henry Perks and Len Jackson, while Sam Hedley kicked three conversions and a penalty.
Mellish 5 - Southwell U-8s 35
Southwell Under-8s made an impressive winning start to their campaign with a remarkable six-try haul from speedster Edward Johnston and one from Harry Goodman.
