London Scottish came away from Lady Bay in Nottingham with a maximum 5 point win after a stunning performance on Friday night. Coming from behind in the final 10 minutes of the game the Exiles secured what would be a crucial victory in the course of the season.
The Exiles came out of the blocks flying against their opponents causing lots of problems up front in the opening minutes. Nottingham ill discipline gave London Scottish multiple 5m line outs which they duly converted from. Two tries in the opening 20 minutes gave the Exiles an early lead after Will Trenholm crashed over from short range and Nathan Jibulu dotted down off the back of a powerful maul.
However, the Archers quickly hit back through their scintillating backline which caused London Scottish problems all day. That coupled with their strong scrum which won a number of penalties throughout the day, Nottingham were able to score two tries of their own to retake the lead.
The Exiles bounced straight back off kick off though as Zach Carr won a crucial ball in the air to offload. Dan Nutton eventually picked up the loose ball from Jonah Holmes and raced away to score and take the lead heading into the break.
The minutes after half time have been a problem period for the Exiles in recent weeks but this week they stayed focus and scored a lovely try just after the break. Will Brown counter attacked beautifully to find the gap. The quick recycle of the ball allowed Bryn Bradley to get free on the left edge and dot down for the score.
After this, London Scottish had to weather a big storm from Nottingham. With the scrum struggling and ill discipline creeping in after a long period of sustained pressure Nottingham picked up two tries in the following 20 minutes. A yellow card to Zach Carr compounded London Scottish’s woes during this period.
However, resolute defence and an ability to hang in their prevented the dam from breaking and kept the Exiles in touch with their opponents. A couple of turnovers later and the London side had a chance to attack with just under ten minutes to go.
A lovely flash back play from Tom Wilstead saw him through a hole on the right hand side. He found Jonah Holmes with a beautiful offload to watch his full back dive in the corner. Stepping up from the touchline the returning Harry Sheppard slotted the extras to give his side a five-point buffer with not long now left on the clock.
The final half a dozen minutes was a scrappy affair. Nottingham banged on the door but were unable to find any clear cut changes. The Exiles defended manfully once again and then controlled possession in the last few minutes of the game to come away with a famous win.
