Spalding RFC 19
West Bridgford 21
An agonising last-gasp penalty miss from James West denied Spalding RFC a much-needed boost in Midlands Two East (North) on Saturday.
Town slipped to a 21-19 defeat against fellow strugglers West Bridgford at the Memorial Field and remain bottom of the pile with one victory from ten matches.
Fly-half West’s penalty – which would have given The Elephants a 22-21 win – was a hugely tough 40-yard effort from out near the touchline.
His effort sailed agonisingly wide of the posts, but the team’s efforts did a least yield a losing bonus point.
Spalding were able to field one of their strongest teams so far this season for the vital clash, with Ryan Chappell, Harry Sharman, Adam Castle and West all starting and captain Harry Brown still on the bench carrying an injury.
From the kick off Town’s tactics, on a rainy afternoon, were fairly obvious – keep it simple and use the forwards to carry the ball and West to kick for territory.
Within the opening ten minutes Spalding were rewarded, with Sam Cowell – continuing with his recent scoring record – bursting onto a pass ten metres out and forcing his way over the line for an unconverted try.
The game ebbed and flowed, with West Bridgford having the upper hand in the scrum but with both teams fiercely competing at the break down.
When scrum-half Will Shields was able to deliver good ball to West, both centres Harry Winch and George Brown were using their strength to crash the ball up.
However, the visitors turned a ball over to gain possession at a ruck.
Suddenly, with no defence on the blind side, Spalding were caught as West Bridgford’s centre cut through a gaping hole for a converted try to take the lead.
A further blow followed as Sharman, suffering from a blow to the head, was replaced by Harry Brown – and it wasn’t long before he was in the action.
Supporting Ash Piccaver as the visiting defence was ripped apart, the skipper finished off some excellent forward play.
And, with West converting, a five-point lead had been restored with a couple of minutes left until half time.
Spalding, however, failed to cope with the restart and lost possession in a tackle.
Again, they were caught out on the blind side and Bridgford capitalised to run in a converted try under the posts to snatch the half time lead with a two-point advantage.
Luke Turner replaced Sam Cowell in the front row with all to play for in the second half, but the visitors were also looking for an away win.
A kick deep into Spalding’s half was taken by Adam Castle on the left wing. A good chase by Bridgford saw him closed down quickly and the clearance was fielded by the visitors, who quickly spread the ball along their backs for the winger to score out wide.
With an excellent conversion following, Town were nine points down and in a spot of bother.
Spalding were using West to kick deep into Bridgford territory, with Josh Caley also throwing in well at lineouts and Brown also providing good ball at the base of the scrum possession was being retained.
Both Tom Duerden and Ryan Chappell were also prominent with their carries, with conditions getting worse and the ball becoming difficult to handle.
However, it was from open play that Castle found some space on the left wing and his pace took him clear of the defence and sensibly he touched down near the goal posts to give West a successful conversion.
With 17 minutes remaining, the away lead was down to just two points again.
Bridgford effectively held out to deny Spalding of any further scoring opportunities until the dying seconds of the game, when West’s long-range penalty kick just failed.
This Saturday sees The Elephants visit high flying Ashbourne (2.15pm), as they face up to a relegation dogfight in 2017.
Spalding RFC: Gareth Osborne, Sam Cowell, Josh Caley, Tom Deurden, Mark Heighton, Ash Piccaver, Ryan Chappell, Harry Sharman, Will Shields, James West, Adam Castle, Harry Winch, George Brown, Gav Sharman, George Douglas. Subs: Luke Turner, Harry Brown, Kieran Lake.
