Newark Rugby Club's under-14s miss out on Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire Youth Cup final due to coronavirus

Some of the town’s most talented young rugby players will miss out on a cup final after the Rugby Football Union cut the season short because of coronavirus.

After topping their Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire and Derbyshire Youth Cup pool with three wins from three, Newark Rugby Club’s under-14s had the advantage of a Kelham Road home draw against Black Army rivals Kesteven in the semi-finals.

Playing in front of a large crowd on a wet and muddy pitch didn’t hamper Newark’s ambition or determination to play their game.

And, due to Coronavirus restrictions, Newark had to call up three Shield players to the matchday squad – Finley Collins, Oscar Corley and Henry Buck ­— who all added to the emphatic 15-0 win in Sunday’s cup clash.

After a mistake from the kick off, resulting in a Kesteven scrum, Newark asserted pressure and dominated the scrum throughout the game.

After winning the ball back with a line-out, Newark slowed the pace and controlled the tempo, which saw fly-half Ethan Blackmore run inside.

Some quick thinking by Freddy Booth ten metres out saw him pick up from the ruck and dart over to score in the corner after five minutes.

Newark continued to dominate the first-half as they camped in Kesteven’s 22.

Josiah Waqalevu, playing in the centre, consistently drove over the gain line and created an attacking platform, despite resilient defending from the visitors, which kept the scoreline to 5-0 at half-time.

Against the run of play, Kesteven started strongly in the second-half and had opportunities to score through strong running, which could have taken them into the lead but for Newark full-back James Egerton, who produced two textbook try-saving one-on-one tackles.

Newark, inspired by Egerton’s efforts, went from strength to strength and began to take control of the game again.

Heavy pressure on a Kesteven scrum led to a mix-up between their back two, who spilled the ball on the 22, which Booth pounced on.

He kicked the ball through and beat the covering defence to touch down and score his and Newark’s second try on 43 minutes.

After numerous phases and having moved the ball the width of the pitch twice, Alfie Atkinson was unlucky for the referee to decide his roll and score in the corner was a double movement.

The task then became tougher for the visitors as, after repeated offside offences and a high tackle, Kesteven were reduced to 14 men for five minutes with a yellow card.

In the last part of the game Newark pushed into Kesteven’s 22 with a line-out.

A catch and drive peel resulted in captain Teddy Coen driving down the blindside channel and, with a cleanly recycled ball and quick thinking by Noah Marshall, the latter completed a sprint into the corner to seal the victory.

Newark were to face the winner of Paviors or Stamford in the final.