Nottingham Univ sixth XV......72

Mannerians second XV............0

FORCED into making ten changes, Mannerians’ fine start hit the buffers at Beeston.

Playing the university’s freshers squad, every man jack of them desperate to impress the selectors in their first game, Bakewell boasted a pack that was probably the heaviest in recent memory.

But they were shunted back at the first scrum, while the students competed effectively at every lineout, and, man for man, were yards faster about the park than most of their opponents.

Bakewell failed to make proper use of a strong wind.

Irwin Mitchell player-of-the-month Ethan Bagshaw was always looking to make ground around the fringes, well supported by Ashton, and Rob Jackson, returning from injury to fill the number 10 spot, made use of limited possession.

But the students were simply too dynamic for Bakewell’s sluggish defence, and cut through in midfield with monotonous regularity, and always backed up in numbers to create the overlap with ease. Their kicker rarely missed a conversion.

Bakewell turned to face the elements and a 46-point deficit at the start of the second half.

Things worsened - two more tries down within ten minutes and James Ashton hospitalised with a leg injury after his typically belligerent incursion into Nottingham’s half was cut short.

Bell, Watt and Chris Froggatt also had to be substituted, with the students providing three players from their ten man bench.

There were a few positives for Mannerians to take from this game: Jackson lasted well on his return, David Boam looked in great form during his 40 minutes spent in defensive duties helping out the three quarters, and the league point gained for completing an away fixture kept them top of the table.