Nottingham Outlaws 42 North East Worcestershire Ravens 36
Midlands Division One
A HEAVILY depleted Ravens squad claimed a moral victory despite being edged out in the East Midlands on Saturday.
Determined to fulfil the fixture, Ravens travelled with just ten players, but Nottingham were happy to support and loaned Ravens three players.
Nottingham opened the scoring in the third minute as Ravens got used to their new team-mates before Ravens debutant Dan Patrice made a barnstorming run to score a spectacular first try for the club which David Wimbury converted to make it 6-4 to the visitors.
Ravens then lost prop Adam Sisley to a severe hamstring injury, leaving them a man down, and this enabled Nottingham to score five converted tries in 15 minutes, giving them a 34-6 lead.
It appeared as though the contest was over, but Ravens started to play the way they had ended their previous game and Jonnie Mills crashed over for his first try in 20 months to make it 34-10 at half time.
On the next possession Dylan Fennell broke the line and battled 15 metres up the pitch with three Outlaws hanging off him. Captain Liam Dunne backed him up and scored a try which Wimbury again converted.
Mills continued the fightback two minutes later with his second try to which Wimbury added the extras to make it 34-22.
Some good defence from Ravens held the Outlaws for a while but tiredness was becoming a problem with only 12 men on the pitch and no substitutes.
Two successive penalties gave the Outlaws a strong field possession and try out wide before the Ravens No 9 lost his head at a debatable referee’s call and was sent to the bin for ten minutes, leaving Ravens with a two-man disadvantage.
Despite this Ravens rallied and the captain led by example to brush off the Outlaws tackles and score between the posts to reduce the arrears to 38-28.
Lee Knight then scored a well worked try in the corner and Dunne followed with another to put Ravens just two points behind at 38-36.
A fierce contest ensued and a heavy collision concussed Knight who left the field for assessment. Back down to 11, Ravens had 15 minutes to chase a famous victory.
The valiant effort lasted until the 76th minute when Outlaws eventually used the two-man overlap and split the back line to score.
Despite trying every trick in the book, Ravens could not regain possession and a fantastic battle ended in a narrow defeat.
Ravens host Birmingham Bulldogs on Saturday (2.30pm) at Hopwood Park. In addition, Ravens will be staging their first ever weekend junior festival with activities including a disco in the evening and optional camping before fixtures on Sunday with teams from across the Midlands. For further details, visit www.newravensrl.co.uk.
