SEVEN TRIES, ANOTHER CONVINCING WIN AND A TRIUMPHANT END TO A MARVELLOUS SEASON OF NOMADS RUGBY!

For the last game of the season, the Marlborough 2nd XV squad was again full and raring to go.  Quite a crowd accompanied the boys to Hungerford for what promised to be a cracking end to an amazing run of quality rugby for the Nomads.  And the boys did not let them down – prop Jake Biggs smashing through the Aldbourne defence to score a super try after just five minutes!  That score set the scene for a hard and fast game of running rugby, attack and defence.  The Nomads mixed it everywhere on the pitch, piling the pressure on Aldbourne, whilst keeping their attacks at bay.

In brief, this was another high quality collective performance built upon tremendous individual commitment and drive.  There were also tries for props Mathew Dopson and Matt Rosenberg, Number 8 Kevin Pike, centre Adam Dobie, winger James Osborne and ***;  Alex Cox was accurate with the boot, slotting two penalties and four conversions and Tim Pierce took two further points with a conversion.  Aldbourne were restricted to just three penalties and did not get into double figures in the face of the Nomads’ ruthlessly determined opposition.  Needless to say, there was much to celebrate at the final whistle! 

Unlike previous weeks, I want to gloss over the details of this match in order to focus on the overall picture as the season comes to a close.  Defeating Aldbourne means that the Nomads’ season in the Dorset & Wiltshire (North) League Division 3 has been 77% successful – seventeen wins and just five defeats.  In total, the Nomads have scored 876 points and have a points difference of 644 – more than any other team in the Dorset & Wiltshire leagues, both North and South and across the Divisions 1, 2 and 3 except for one… the Marlborough 1st XV! 

These points have come from a phenomenal 128 tries!  On average, the Nomads have scored 40 points per match, conceding an average of just eleven points per match; on average, scoring one try every fifteen minutes of game time!  Individual high scorers include Alex Cox (kicking his way to 123 points for the Nomads!), Adam Dobie (a total of 91 points, including fourteen tries), Shaun Anderson (73 points, including nine tries), Mathew Dopson (65 points from thirteen tries), Tom Regan (64 points), Adam Whatley (55 points from eleven tries) and Max Ansell, Jacob Coplestone and Toby May all with thirty points or more!

The team has grown in stature this year and, all being well on the promotion front, looks extremely well-placed to compete strongly next season in the Dorset & Wiltshire (North) League Division 2!  Moving up would be a fitting end to a truly brilliant season for the boys; when set alongside the extraordinary exploits of the 1st XV, the Nomads’ performance has certainly contributed to a most successful year for the whole Club!  Sustained by a fantastic group of coaches, trainers, physios, all those who run the Club and the Clubhouse and the families and friends of those who have taken to the field over the last few months, the squad now has a superb mix of young talent and veteran rugby wisdom; it will continue to compete in its own right and will undoubtedly provide first-rate support to the 1st XV in its quest for greatness in the Southern Counties league.  I have been privileged to have been Captain this season and wish everyone the very best of luck for the future.