Nottingham Outlaws’ play-off ambitions took a bit of a battering when they fell to a disappointing 10-34 home defeat against league leaders and local rivals Sherwood Wolf Hunt on Saturday.
The defeat means that they have little margin for error and will probably need to win all of their remaining games if they are to make it into the top four.
The Outlaws started well enough against a big, physical Sherwood outfit. However, disaster struck on the ten-minute mark when team leader and captain Coryn Ward pulled up with a hamstring injury and had to leave the field for the rest of the game.
Despite the setback, the Outlaws continued to thwart the Sherwood attack and, after an absorbing opening twenty minutes, the scoreboard remained unused. However, back-to-back penalties conceded by the home side piggybacked the Sherwood team into the Outlaws’ red zone, and they opened up a 4-0 lead with a well-taken try.
Not for the first time this season, the Outlaws suffered what is now becoming a regular occurrence, conceding tries in the lead-up to the interval. They did it again, leaking no fewer than three tries without response in a dismal ten-minute period that saw them troop off the pitch at half-time with it all to do at 0-20 in arrears.
The second half started well for the Outlaws, with Alex Whittle marking his return to the side with a well-taken solo effort to cut the lead to 4-20, but the Wolf Hunt were in no mood to let the Outlaws get back into the game, scoring two tries. Despite a well-taken try by Dan Hunt, Sherwood had the final word with the last score to finish deserved winners at 10-34.
Man of the Match for the Outlaws was Uchenna Okereke, who had another excellent game in what is turning out to be a great debut season for the young forward.
