Sat 6 Apr 2024
In front of a large crowd attending the annual Sponsors Lunch, Dees took on Casuals in what was a must-win game for both sides.
With a strong wind at their backs, Dees started at tempo and enjoyed the better of the early exchanges. The visitors were pinned in their 22 but it wasn’t until a charged down kick fell into the hands of Morgan Dayes that Dees notched up their first score, the powerful centre charging through to score under the posts.
Full-back Zak Bourne added the extras though, when defensive pressure earned Dees a penalty minutes later he was unable to increase the lead, his long-range effort drifting wide.
Casuals battered their way back into the game, a series of penalties getting them down the field and culminating in them rumbling over in the corner with a maul from a lineout. The conversion was missed, leaving the hosts with the narrowest of leads.
Despite sporadic signs that Casuals were gaining a foothold in the game, the wind meant that the majority of the play was in their half. Dees pressured them strongly in attack but a lack of precision and some careless penalties gave the visitors too many opportunities to escape. However, as Casuals cleared their lines toward the end of the half, a quick throw-in allowed Dees to rapidly move the ball to the other side of the pitch where winger Max Wills outpaced the over-stretched defence to dot down under the sticks.
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Bourne’s conversion saw Dees go into the break wondering whether 14-5 was a fair return given the considerable advantage of the wind into which they would be playing the second half.
Conceding a penalty trying to run out of their 22 after the restart, Dees were immediately on the back foot. Casuals smashed away at the defence with some powerful forward surges and more penalties denied the hosts any breathing space. However, as per Dees in the first half, Casuals were frequently unable to find the finishing pass and it was eventually a close-range effort from the forwards that got them over the line, the conversion closing the deficit to two points.
Worse was to come for Dees. As Casuals prepared to kick for touch following another penalty, their sharp-eyed fly-half noticed that Dees were unwisely making a change in the back field. Before Dees had reorganised, a hasty cross-field kick allowed the Casuals winger to waltz over in the corner to put them ahead 12-17.
Stern words under the posts stiffened Dees’ sinews and they hit their straps from the restart. With a conciseness that had been lacking in the first half they launched a series of attacks that carried them deep into the opponents’ half. Another muscular run from Dayes ended with him grounded in the 22 but his partner, skipper Josh Klymszyn, was on hand to scoop the ball up and go
through the middle to score.
Having moved from winger to full-back, Ben McDonagh now had kicking duties but couldn’t convert.
Dees ground through the gears with relentless continuity, forwards and backs combining to sap the energy from the Northampton side’s legs. From a lineout in their own 22, the hosts spun the ball wide, Wills going the length to add his second of the afternoon. McDonagh converted to give a comfortable, yet not decisive, lead of 26-17. Minutes later, a penalty on the 22 allowed him to stretch the lead by a further three points. With the clock running down, Wills once more ran from deep, ghosting through a fractured defence to seal his hat-trick.
McDonagh again converted and, though Casuals strove manfully to add a bonus point try they were denied by a determined defence. After the game, captain Josh Klymszyn simply said, “It was a game of two halves.”
A special mention to stalwath club member Simon "Station" George who dominanted the scrum and was called upon throughout the game whenever the scrum was in trouble.
