Massive medal haul for Chesterfield swimmers

Both teams were showing solid defence in the first quarter of the match and looking to try and find any weakness they could.

With a couple of missed opportunities by Tupton it was Nottinghamians who struck first when a lapse in concentration allowed Nottinghamians fullback to slip through and score under the posts. With the conversion added Tupton were down 0-7.

This sparked Tupton into life and from the kick off, they turned the ball over and had a good spell of possession with both backs and forwards moving it through the hands and going through phases which created space out wide for Jordan White to go over in the corner 5-7.

With Tupton’s pack dominating the scrums and winning plenty against the head it was giving the chance to let the backs loose and with the ball going from one side of the pitch to the other it created an overlap in the corner only for the ball to be knocked on over the line.

Five minutes later, Tupton were awarded a penalty in Nottinghamians 22 and quick thinking from James Blakey saw him tap and crash over for a try 10-7. Just before the break Tupton had a chance to increase the lead only for the ball to be knocked on again with no defenders left to beat.

From the second half Tupton again turned the ball over and with a quick-ball sent out to the backs it looked certain Jordan White would score only to be stopped short but with Tupton’s forwards not giving up the chase it was hooker Steve Burton who popped up for the off-load and took the last defender over the line with him to score a great try under the posts 17-7. Some more impressive work from Tupton between backs and forwards resulted in James Blakey going over for his second try of the game and Tupton’s bonus point 22-7.

Tupton went down to 14 men after a yellow card was awarded to back row Jamie Barnett but Tupton’s pack still looked strong and managed to more than hold their own in the scrummage. Nottinghamians threw everything at Tupton but the well organised defence stood firm and when Tupton was back to full strength they went down the other end of the field until they worked an overlap for Antony Barnett to score and convert his own try 29-7.

It was a solid and very organised performance from Tupton with fantastic work and great support.