Nottingham Outlaws slipped to a second successive defeat at the hands of reigning champions Telford Raiders on Saturday.
Despite battling hard, the Outlaws couldn’t cope with the size and strike power of the Raiders and, as a result, succumbed to a 38–12 defeat.
The Outlaws went into the game with a much-changed team compared to the one that lost by one score at Birmingham the week before. Changes in the backs included Izaac Oxford coming back into the side at full-back, Tom Pardo lining up on the wing, and Chris Hudson starting at number six, whilst Uchenna Okereke came back into the second row and Russ Bragg took up a bench spot for his first-team debut.
The Outlaws couldn’t have made a worse start, failing to gather the ball from the kick-off, and from the resulting set Telford opened the scoring to lead 6–0 with less than two minutes on the clock.
The Outlaws hit back with some good play in the opening phases, dominating field position in the opening quarter, and they deservedly levelled when Jack Jonson hit a great line on a reverse ball and sauntered under the posts without a hand being laid on him. Jacob Rigby converted from bang in front to level the scores at 6–6.
Having had the lion’s share of possession in the first quarter, the Outlaws couldn’t add to their tally, and they were subsequently given a lesson in converting pressure into points as the home side upped the ante and scored three quick-fire tries in the last ten minutes to close out the first stanza with the Raiders holding a comfortable 22–6 lead.
The second half started equally as badly as the first, with the Raiders scoring again after three minutes of second-half action to stretch the lead out to 26–6.
However, a rare foray into the Telford red zone saw the deficit reduced to 26–12 as Jacob Rigby scored a great solo effort and then added the extras to make it 26–12.
Despite their best efforts, the Outlaws couldn’t add to their tally in a game in which they found themselves more and more on the back foot. Indeed, they leaked two more tries, and it could have been more, but some excellent scrambling defence kept the score down despite some close calls!
Despite the defeat, the Outlaws battled well for the full eighty minutes, and coach Shepherd was more than happy with the performance. Indeed, several players stood out, including Izaac Oxford, who came close to winning the man-of-the-match award after an assured stint at full-back. However, it was elusive half-back Jacob Rigby who deservedly took the award with yet another strong performance in what is turning out to be a great season for the emerging half-back.
After two weeks on the road, the Outlaws will be looking forward to a return to Lenton Lane next Saturday when they entertain top-of-the-table Sherwood Wolf Hunt in what should be a mouth-watering local derby.