For this match Scottish again made a number of changes to their starting line up, giving a debut at full back to Gerard Mullen following his move from London Welsh earlier in the week. The team also included Mark Bright at number 8 who was returning after a long term injury and full back John Bordiss took his place on the replacements bench, who was similarly returning from a long term injury. To the surprise of many in the crowd, the club also welcomed back one of its favourite sons in Matt Johnson at prop. Matt left at the end of last season after having played with the club since the 2004/5 season and was an integral member of the side as the club rose up the league structure. Matt now holds the rare distinction of having played with Scottish in London 1, National league 3 South, National League 1 and finally in the Championship.

On a chilly and overcast day Scottish kicked off, playing towards the sports club end of the ground. Scottish regained possession immediately from the kick off and second row Alex Karonias took the play into the opposition's 22 metre area after supporting centre Ryan Western had cut through the Nottingham defence. The away sides were then penalised for offside, however fly half James Brown pulled his conversion attempt to the right of the posts. Shortly after, Nottingham made a good break down their left flank with winger Mike Penn gaining significant ground into the Scottish half, however Scottish turned the ball over and cleared the threat.

During the next 20 minutes of the game, it was a very scrappy affair with neither side truly dominating the play. There were many handling errors during these phases of the game, together with a number of kicking errors as both sides attempted to gain the upper hand. On the 27^th minute Scottish were caught offside just outside their 22 metre line. Nottingham opted to kick for the corner. From the subsequent line out, the away side caught and drove towards the Scottish try line. The Scottish defence held firm, however they were penalised for coming in at the side of the ruck. Nottingham again opted for the lineout and drove over out wide, with flanker Sione Kalamafoni emerging with the ball. Fly half Kieran Hallett missed his conversion attempt.

With a minute remaining on the clock in the first half, Scottish were penalised for being offside and Hallett pushed the Nottingham lead out to 8 points. However, Scottish quickly reduced the arrears on the stroke of half time when the away side were also caught offside on their 22 metre line. Brown made up for his earlier miss and reduced the score line to 3 - 8 as the referee blew the half time whistle. A first half that could easily be summed up, as frustrating for all watching, as both sides cancelled one another out with the error count being high.

In the opening phases of the second half Nottingham were pressurising the Scottish defence and on the 43^rd minute they were awarded a penalty in the Scottish 22 metre after the home side were penalised for coming in at the side of the ruck. Hallett converted the penalty attempt to make the score line 3 - 11 in favour of Nottingham. Scottish conceded a further penalty on the 47^th minute, however Hallett pushed his kick well to the right of the posts. On the 55^th minute, Scottish created a good backs move with Bordiss who had come on as a replacement joining the Scottish attack out on the wing. As Bordiss was closing in on the Nottingham try line the covering Nottingham full back Andrew Savage tackled Bordiss and then deliberately sealed the ball off in the tackle, preventing Scottish from obtaining quick ball. Savage was immediately yellow carded by the referee and spent the next 10 minutes on the side lines. Scottish upped their game and as they were attacking close to the Nottingham line, scrum half Matt Heeks tried to play a quick ball but the referee was badly positioned being too close to the play and the ball was prevented from being passed to the supporting Scottish player as it bounced off the embarrassed match official. To even things up the referee performed the same activity later in the match when Nottingham were attempting to pass from the back of a ruck.

Scottish began to exert dominance in the scrum in the second half and the Nottingham pack conceded 3 consecutive penalties at the scrum. Scottish opted to covert the third penalty and Brown reduced the arrears to 6 - 11. On the 63^rd minute Scottish were penalised for not releasing the tackled player and again Hallett missed the conversion attempt, with the ball drifting very wide of the posts. The one area of the pitch in which Scottish dominated throughout the match was in the scrum and on the 66^th minute the Nottingham scrum was penalised yet again for collapsing the scrum. As the game moved towards its conclusion, Scottish were penalised for a high tackle on their 22 metre line. Hallett converted to put the game beyond doubt. As the game moved into over time the Nottingham side made a break down the blindside of a ruck in the Scottish half. Replacement winger Ayoola Erinle closed in on the try line and off loaded to centre Tim Streather who was in close support. Erinle's pass to Streather appeared to be forward, but to the dismay of those in the ground the referee controversially allowed play to continue with the assistant referee not being in line with play and Streather raced away to touch down beneath the posts. Hallett converted to leave a final score of 6 - 21.

Another tough game for Scottish, but they can take heart from the return of a number of the long term injured players. Those players will have gained significantly from the game time and Scottish will be looking to build upon this in their next match when they make the short journey across to Hersham to take on our fellow relegation play-off contenders Esher. Look out for the match preview which will be on the website later in the week.

Matt Johnston was awarded the First Cape Wines sponsored Man of the Match award.

Scottish's next home game will be against local rivals London Welsh on February 19th (2pm kick off), in front of what promises to be the largest crowd of the season at the Athletic Ground. To purchase advance tickets, and avoid the queues on the day, please click here.