Market Rasen & Louth 18 Spalding 13
In rain and wind not conducive to good rugby, Spalding and hosts Market Rasen & Louth delivered a competitive Counties One Midlands East (North) game
The continuous downpour and strong, blustery gales meant the outcome was always in the balance, with the Elephants eventually having to settle for a losing bonus point.
After a long injury spell and an outing for the 1923s there was a welcome back for lock Tom Moxon, with Ollie Sorrell on the wing following the previous week’s hat-trick for the second XV. Henry Duce was back from university and came in at inside centre.
Rasen started the brighter, using their back row with strong carries putting Spalding on the defensive, with back row Elliot Humphreys and Ryan Firth making good tackles.
Another Rasen carry saw Henry Hobson tackle high to earn a yellow card, with Rasen capitalising by kicking for touch, securing lineout ball and driving over the try line.
Both teams were having difficulty with a wet and slippery ball, resulting in knock-ons followed by scrums.
A kick through to the in-goal area was touched down by the home team and with a conversion a 12-point lead was on the scoreboard
Spalding were having good spells in attack but the cutting edge and final pass were not coming off. However the battle at the breakdown was resulting in penalties being conceded and Willis Ingleby stepped forward with two successful kicks.
The outstanding play of the afternoon was delivered by Spalding’s backs, launched by a good pass out from a ruck by scrum half Jim Wraith following a good carry from lock Tom Moxon. Ingleby and centre Duce combined to release Ollie Machin to slice through Rasen’s backs at pace for a brilliantly worked try. The conversion brought Spalding to within a point at half-time, trailling 13-12.
With the strong wind slightly favouring Rasen in the second half, Spalding knew that teamwork and spirit would be the order of the day and battle they did, restricting the home team to two successful penalty kicks, holding up a couple of driving mauls from lineout possession and winning several vital turnovers at rucks.
Rasen has always been a difficult place for Spalding and to come away with a losing bonus point speaks volumes of the effort the players put in.
Elephants: Parker, Anker, Newberry, Moxon, Hobson, Firth, Humphreys, Ole, Wraith, Ingleby, Sharman, Duce, Machin, Sorrell, Beecham. Subs: Broome, Meldock Parker-McGee.
