CO-OPERATIVE RUGBY LEAGUE CONFERENCE PREMIERSHIP, MIDLANDS DIVISION
Midlands Premier Grand Final 16 August 2008
NOTTINGHAM OUTLAWS 44 0 COVENTRY BEARS
Nottingham Outlaws lifted the Midlands Premier title with a comprehensive 44-0 triumph over defending champions Coventry Bears at Lady Bay. They dominated the game from start to finish but the Bears were still in the contest until two tries in the first ten minutes of the second half cemented the home sides superiority.
With the wind at their backs and their pack immediately grabbing the initiative, the Outlaws began confidently and Ben Thornton opened the scoring with a penalty in the fourth minute.
After riding out the storm, the Bears enjoyed a period of possession but Thornton added a second penalty after 23 minutes and four minutes later Rob Brown finished a fine move down the left with the games opening try converted by Thornton.
The next score came right on the interval. Brown badly miskicked a chip through but it bounced kindly and he regathered and put Paul Calland in for his 18th try of the season improved by Thornton.
The Bears had a mountain to climb being 16-0 down and it became worse as Steve Hall broke through from the restart and Chris McNamara was on hand to finish under the posts. Nine minutes later, Callands inside ball sent George Strachan over, Thornton converted both and the Outlaws were almost out of sight.
The Bears didnt help themselves by making elementary errors when in good positions and after a good kick and chase, they allowed Will Thomas to break a tackle and race 70 metres to the line for an unconverted score and with a quarter of the game to go, a rout looked on the cards.
The Bears tried to avoid a nilling but were unable to get through the solid and forceful Outlaws defence, while the Outlaws had no difficulty making yards and creating chances, Hall setting up Myles Rutherford for a try which was ruled out for a forward pass.
Two tries in the final few minutes sealed the game for the Outlaws. First, Oliver Crick intercepted a loose pass to take play deep into Bears territory and Rutherford finished the move with a legitimate try before Adam Millward snapped up a dropped ball to power away for the Outlaws seventh and final try. Thornton converted both and the Bears day was summed up when Alex Brown juggled but could not reel in a pass from Tim Stevens with a try a certainty with the last move of the game.
Teams:
NOTTINGHAM OUTLAWS: Will Thomas, Steve Hall, Oliver Crick, Ben Thornton, Chris McNamara, Paul Calland (Capt), Jimmy Lewis, Adam Millward, Rob Brown, Aiden Pritchard, George Strachan, Ben Radford, Myles Rutherford. Replacements: Steve McKinney, Bryn Waldram, Nathan Crichton, Kees Foxon.
Scorers: Tries; Rob Brown (27), Paul Calland (39), Chris McNamara (41), George Strachan (49), Will Thomas (57), Myles Rutherford (74), Adam Millward (77). Conversions; Ben Thornton 6 from 7. Penalties; Ben Thornton (4, 23).
COVENTRY BEARS: Mark Hyslop, Tanaka Chaunukara, Josh Boothby, Chris Brown, Andy McGrory, Graham Healey, Scott Clendenning-Fenton, John Nicholls, Alex Brown (Capt.), Tim Stevens, Matt Allsopp, Tom Watts, Matt Cooper. Replacements: Aaron Jarvis, Mitch Todd, Kasiano Raturaga, Phil Molloy.
Referee: Luke Fellows (Southern RLRS), Touch Judges: Nick Evans & Danny McNiece
Penalties: Outlaws 10, Bears 4.
Scoring sequence: 2-0, 4-0, 10-0, 16-0, (HT), 22-0, 28-0, 32-0, 38-0, 44-0, (FT).
Man of the Match Award winners
Outlaws: Steve Hall
Bears: Matt Cooper
MIDLANDS PREMIER DIVISION LEAGUE TABLE
| Team | P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | Pts |
| Nottingham Outlaws | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 584 | 122 | 462 | 22 |
| Coventry Bears | 12 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 586 | 211 | 375 | 22 |
| Bedford Tigers | 12 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 404 | 282 | 122 | 14 |
| Gloucestershire Warriors | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 312 | 383 | -71 | 10 |
| Derby City | 12 | 4 | 0 | 8 | 281 | 416 | -135 | 8 |
| Birmingham Bulldogs | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | 336 | 487 | -151 | 6 |
| Leicester Phoenix | 12 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 146 | 748 | -602 | 2 |
(NB: If tied, final positions decided by scores between tying teams not overall points difference)
TOP SCORERS (Including playoffs):
Tries:
18 Paul Calland (Nottingham Outlaws)
17 Matt Cooper (Coventry Bears)
17 Zander Peden (Bedford Tigers)
15 Ben Powis (Coventry Bears)
13 Ben Thornton (Nottingham Outlaws)
12 Will Thomas (Nottingham Outlaws)
8 Stephan Fourie (Gloucestershire Warriors)
8 Mike Jones (Birmingham Bulldogs)
8 Adam Smith (Birmingham Bulldogs)
7 Tanaka Chaunukara (Coventry Bears)
7 Martin Edwards (Nottingham Outlaws)
7 Ian Gilmore (Derby City)
7 Tom Howley (Nottingham Outlaws)
7 Ben Radford (Nottingham Outlaws)
Goals:
65 Graham Healey (Coventry Bears)
60 Ben Thornton
21 Chris Gilmartin (Birmingham Bulldogs)
19 (incl 2 field goals) Paul Worthington (Derby City)
16 Scott Clendenning-Fenton (Coventry Bears)
16 Rob Ashton (Bedford Tigers)
Points:
172 Ben Thornton (13 tries, 60 goals)
146 Graham Healey (4 tries, 65 goals)
84 Paul Calland (17 tries, 8 goals)
84 Zander Peden (17 tries, 8 goals)
64 Matt Cooper (16 tries)
60 Ben Powis (15 tries)
56 Scott Clendenning-Fenton (6 tries, 16 goals)
54 Chris Gilmartin (3 tries, 21 goals)
52 Stephan Fourie (8 tries 10 goals)
52 Paul Worthington (4 tries, 17 goals, 2 field goals)
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Chris Wilson
Media Manager, Gloucestershire Warriors RLFC
Tel: +44 (0)1684 850903
Mobile: + 44 (0)7905 931033
Email: gloswarriors2004@aol.com
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