Luton 29 Spalding RFC 12
Spalding RFC slipped to a second defeat of the Midlands Three East (South) season as old foes Luton secured a 29-12 success.
Having been rivals in Midlands One some 15 years ago, this was the duo’s first meeting since then.
Town were pleased to welcome back Jacob Greaves into the front row, while at blindside flanker Alan Charevicious made his first team debut after impressing during the pre-season match at Fakenham.
The early exchanges saw Luton controlling territory, using their experienced front row to carry the ball and making the Elephants call on their defensive abilities.
However, after ten minutes the hosts used their forwards to good effect and there was a bit of a niggle between centre George Brown and Luton’s number six – resulting in the referee yellow carding Brown and sending him to the sidelines.
The initial offence was for not releasing in the tackle and Luton converted the penalty kick to go ahead.
At the breakdown, Spalding were struggling to adapt to the way the referee was interpreting the laws giving plenty of possession to Luton – and they took advantage.
Using their backs, the ball was worked to their left wing and a pass back inside to a supporting player saw the first try scored.
Within a couple of minutes Luton again used their backs to create space and their lock scored under the posts to move them 17-0 ahead.
At this stage, Spalding were battling to stay in the game. Will Shields was going well at the lineout with Ash Anker throwing in and Connor Lilburn was to the fore with his carries, but when they had possession in Luton’s 22 they came away without scoring.
The home side capitalised and just before the break a missed tackle saw them under the posts again for a half time lead of 24 points.
The start of the second half saw the Elephants staring at a heavy defeat as Luton used pick and drives by their forwards.
It wasn’t long before their scrum-half dived through the remaining defence for an unconverted try.
That was followed by two further drives over the line by Luton, but Spalding were bravely defending as the ball was held up and turnovers were created with the new drop goal clearance by the defending team.
The hosts were soon back on the attack, but a dropped ball saw Callum Lewis, on for George Brown, kick the ball through and downfield.
Centre Gav Sharman picked it up and outpaced everybody, scoring under the posts for fly-half Conall Mason to convert.
Harry Cole was then yellow carded for not retreating ten metres at a tapped penalty on the half way line, resulting in the scrums going uncontested with Greaves having also been replaced by Tom Parker in the front row.
Spalding were now showing their speed in the backs. Left winger Lewis had a stunning run past half a dozen Luton players before being brought down and on the other wing Ben Shields was finding some room.
But it was a deep territory kick by Mason which saw centre James Luto gather and, with a delightful pass, put Sharman in open space a few metres from the line to score with Mason’s conversion kick hitting the posts.
This game was not a classic by any imagination, with the tackle and ruck area throughout the match a bit of a nightmare for Town.
To their credit, they battled back in the second half and outscored the home team.
This Saturday sees Spalding travel to Notts Casuals in the RFU Midlands Senior Vase (3pm).
Their next league game is a home clash, with Melton Mowbray visiting the Memorial Field on October 23.
Spalding RFC: Jacob Greaves, Harry Cole, Luke Turner, Macalay Crane, Connor Lilburn, Alan Charevicious, Will Shields, Ash Ankar, Adam Sutcliffe, Conall Mason, Ben Shields, George Brown, Gav Sharman, James Luto, George Douglas. Subs: Tom Parker and Callum Lewis.
