It was a case of third time lucky for Nottingham Outlaws as they notched their first victory of the season in round three of their 2022 Yorkshire Premier League campaign. Indeed they did it in style, running in six tries to post an excellent 34-10 victory over an outgunned East Hull side at Lenton Lane on Saturday.

The Outlaws went into the game with their third half back pairing in as many matches with Gaz Whitfield taking over the scrum half role after Clarke Squires failed a late fitness test and he was joined in the halves by Joe Moran who stepped up from the wing to take over at number six. There were changes on the bench too as Luke Wadding, Alessio Cauteruccio and Josh Adebayo all came back into the side.

The match kicked off in lovely, sunny conditions and the Outlaws immediately went looking for the early score. Indeed they spent the first five minutes camped in the East Hull red zone but they failed to open their account and their early dominance came to nothing.

Not for the first time this season the Outlaws had failed to capitalise on some excellent opportunities and yet again they fell to the sucker punch. Indeed it was their first foray into the Outlaws half that saw East Hull capitalise on some poor defending as they opened their account with a well taken try to leave the Outlaws trailing 4-0 with ten minutes on the clock.

Despite the setback there was a strong feeling amongst the crowd that this was a game that was there for the taking and two minutes later the Outlaws were back on level terms when Alex Whittle carved open the East Hull defence with a classic show and go from twenty metres out to post a fine try. Gaz Whitfield added the extras from bang in front to put the Outlaws ahead at 6-4 with twelve minutes on the clock.

It was a lead they were destined to hold for the remainder of the game.

Buoyed by their score the Outlaws stepped on the gas and began to dominate possession and field position. However once again they failed to capitalise as they made a series of errors in a frustrating twenty minute period that they were by far the better side but could not grab the points that they deserved.

As the clock ticked down the match suddenly swung in the Outlaws favour with two trys in the last five minutes of the first half. The first came on the back of a well timed Cunliffe pass that saw captain Coryn Ward power over the line for a well taken try and then Alex Whittle once again outfoxed the East Hull defence with a dummy pass. The long striding number thirteen was hauled down just short but on the next play Adam Cunliffe shot through a hole in the East Hull defence for a much deserved Outlaws score.

Gaz Whitfield converted both scores as the Outlaws powered into a three score lead at 18-4 as the halftime hooter sounded.

All talk at half time was of the need to control possession and avoid unnecessary errors but they did just the opposite on the restart, losing the ball when trying to unload in heavy traffic and two tackles later the Outlaws lead was cut to 18-10 and the game once again appeared to be in the balance.

As in the first half, the East Hull score seemed to act as a wake up call to the Outlaws attack and they stormed forward with Alex Whittle once again carving open the East Hull defence only to have the ball pulled out of his grasp with the line at his mercy but the Outlaws were not to be denied and two minutes later George Strachan powered over with a trademark short range effort.

Having got back on the front foot the Outlaws continued to dominate the game, and as the East Hull pack began to tire the match was played more and more in and around the visitors forty metre zone with forwards Jake Hall and Alessio Cauteruccio making plenty of yards down the middle. With the Outlaws dominating the collision the gaps began to appear and Gaz Whitfield opened up the East Hull defence with an outrageous dummy to post a superb solo effort as the Outlaws extended their lead to 28-10.

As the clock ticked down there was still time for one more Outlaws score as Alex Whittle put in a superbly weighted grubber kick into the in-goal area and Albert Paskevic won the race to the ball for a well deserved try to wrap up the game with the Outlaws posting a well deserved at 34-10 victory and their first league points of the season.

As the team celebrated a well earned victory there was a brief pause as the players waited for the man of the match announcement. There were plenty of players in with shout with Gaz Whitfield, Coryn Ward and Alex Whittle all having their best games of the season so far. However it was Albert Paskevic who took the bubbly with an excellent performance on his first stint at prop forward as well as a well taken try to open up his account for the season.

Next week the Outlaws take a well deserved break before they resume their campaign in two weeks time against Queensbury at Lenton Lane

Nottingham Outlaws continued their 2022 Yorkshire Premier League campaign on Saturday with a home fixture against New Earswick All Blacks from York. The Outlaws were keen to get off the mark following last week’s defeat at Toll Bar but despite a much improved performance they just fell short of victory losing out 24-16 in a highly entertaining match.

The Outlaws went into their first home match of the campaign with a few changes to the team that lost at Toll Bar last week. Clarke Squires came in at scrum half for his first game for over a season to partner Ben Littlewood in the halves whilst Will White came in on debut in the centres with Joe Moran and Ronan Treble moving out to the wings.

Straight from the kick off the Outlaws went on the attack, winning three back to back sets in and around the All Blacks twenty metre zone. However they lacked the cutting edge to get over the whitewash and the nearest they came to a try in the early onslaught was when Coryn Ward was agonisingly held up in the tackle despite getting over the line.

It appeared that the early Outlaws dominance was going to go unrewarded but they finally forced their way over when good hands saw the ball reach Ronan Treble on the left wing. There was still plenty of traffic in front of him but the youngster managed to crash over in the corner despite the attention of two All Black defenders as the Outlaws crept into an early 4-0 lead with ten minutes on the clock.

At this stage the All Blacks had hardly laid a hand on the ball but they caught the Outlaws defence napping with their first real attack and a missed tackle in the middle of the park saw the All Blacks creep ahead with a try under the sticks as the visitors led 6-4 at the midway mark in the first stanza.

It looked like the Outlaws would go into the break only two points in arrears but some poor defending on the right hand side saw the Outlaws conceded another try on the stroke of halftime to trail 12-4 at the interval.

The coaching staff used the half time break to rejig the forwards with Tyler Beardsley coming on for the injured Freddie Fearnley and Liam Heaney taking over the hooking duties.

Whatever was in the half time drinks it clearly didn’t help the Outlaws as they made a dreadful start to the second half, losing the ball in their first set and then, in a disastrous five minute spell they failed to number up in the tackle out wide to leak two trys. With both scores converted the visitors had managed to put themselves in a winning position with three trys in a devastating ten minute spell either side of the half time break!

Despite the reversals the Outlaws, to their credit, did not throw in the towel and they spent most of the remaining thirty minutes in the visitors half. Indeed they peppered the All Blacks line with attack after attack but yet again they lacked the cutting edge to finish off the moves and get the points that their dominance deserved.

With ten minutes remaining the Outlaws pressure finally paid off when Clarke Squires seized a loose ball and fed Adam Cunliffe to score under the posts and then the ball went wide to Coryn Ward who went over in the right hand corner. Ben Litlewood added both conversions to cut the deficit to 16-24 but it was too late in the game for the Outlaws to stand any chance of a victory and when the final whistle went the Outlaws still remained short of that elusive first victory in their 2022 campaign.

Despite the defeat there were a number of good performances across the squad. Player-Coach Adam Cunliffe had a fine day at the office, fielding several towering bombs as well as bagging a fine try and rookie forward Harry Masini had his best game yet in an Outlaws shirt as he continues to go from strength to strength. However the bubbly deservedly went to loose forward Alex Whittle who orchestrated most of the Outlaws attacks as well as putting in a full eighty minutes of tackling duties.

Next Saturday the Outlaws entertain East Hull at Lenton Lane for a match in which they will be desperately keen to get off the mark!