Miserable end for Richards as Exiles cave again

A SOLO try by replacement Charles Thacker on the final play saw Nottingham end their hoodoo in the capital with a stylish eight-try rout of Scottish.

A hat-trick from wing James Stephenson, a brace by prop Benjamin Hooper as well as scores by hooker Antonio Harris and wing William Robinson saw the green-and-whites grab their first win in London at the fifth attempt this season.

Nottingham head coach Ian Costello said: “We’ve struggled on the road to London and come out of a tough period since January where our form has been off, but the last couple of weeks we have turned a corner. I’m very pleased we’ve got three in a row.

“Our maul was very strong and got us a foothold in the game, we scored on the back of some good defence passages.”

Nottingham began with real intent and controlled the game for the first 20 minutes with a physical threat the Scottish defensive line could not contain.

A kick to touch in the second minute led to a catch and drive try with Hooper touching down.

Five minutes later and after another Nottingham line-out, the ball went wide right where wing Stephenson sprinted over the line.

The Exiles then saw a try to wing Jason Harries disallowed for a forward pass and the boys in green extended their lead with another catch and drive score by hooker Harris.

Just before the half-hour mark, the game turned into a brawl but no cards were shown and Nottingham got the try bonus in the 38th minute after a cross-field kick from George Worth was finished by Hooper.

But Exiles grabbed the last word before the break when Pete Lydon’s kick-

chase bounced perfectly for a well-poised try, which the Ealing-bound back duly converted.

Nottingham were pinned in their 22 after the break and after three 5m line-outs failed to bear fruit for Scottish, a break by centre Alec Coombes opened up wing Jason Harries for the try.

Nottingham hit back with two tries from Stephenson, who used his pace to get past the Exiles line. And after Lydon saw yellow for tackling a player in the air, Nottingham back Murray McConnell opened up for Robinson to dot down.

Nottingham prop Thomas Heard went to the bin for a high tackle and Scottish linked well for a late Harries try before Thacker got the final score.

Departing Scottish coach Pete Richards said: “It was an anti-climax. Again barring a score at the end of the first-half, we had probably already lost the game. Lots of effort has ended with some heavy defeats.”