Melton Mowbray 36
Spalding 26
Taking a strong team over to Melton Mowbray, Spalding, with a mistake-ridden performance, came away with a losing bonus point with their third successive loss.
The home team moved up to fourth in the Counties 2 Midlands East (South) League, with Spalding clinging onto second place by five points.
From the kick off, Spalding looked to be back into top gear as they moved the ball confidently from side to side with the forwards and the backs working together.
Melton conceded a penalty on the 5m line in front of the posts and scrum half Will Shields spotted an unguarded gap in the home team’s defence, took a quick tapped kick and stole over the try line with fly half Conall Mason having a simple conversion after just two minutes of play.
However, the home team took over the scoring for the rest of the first half, starting with a penalty kick after a late tackle by forward Sam Noble.
The home team maintained the pressure, helped by Spalding losing possession when carrying the ball into contact.
With a succession of scrums in front of Spalding’s try line, a pick and drive by their number eight saw Melton over and with a good conversion they had a three-point lead.
The home team were now playing with confidence being quicker to the break down and prepared to move the ball along their backs and with 23 minutes played they had their next converted try.
One of the few areas that Spalding were holding their own was in the lineout with George Douglas back after injury, but conceding penalties at the breakdown and continuing to lose the ball in contact was gifting Melton possession and opportunities.
From a scrum they again moved the ball along the backs to score out wide for a half time lead of 15 points.
Spalding’s early second half performance was a complete turnaround after half time team talk from coach Ali Sharpe and captain Luke Turner.
From a lineout won by Douglas, the ball was moved at pace along the backs and a final pass by Gav Sharman to right winger James Luto saw him step back inside the last cover defence to score a converted try.
From the high restart kick, fullback Jack Patrick rose brilliantly into the air to out jump the Melton defence and snatch the ball.
With his momentum he was through the home team’s initial defence and then outpaced everybody to score under the posts.
Suddenly four minutes into the second half there was only one point between the teams.
Melton came back at Spalding, pressing deep in the 22.
A scrum to Spalding on their 5m line was lost, picked up by Melton’s number eight who drove over for a converted try.
The home team were clearly winning the contest at the breakdown with Spalding’s poor support play, putting them under mounting pressure.
However when Spalding got their basics right they posed a threat.
From a scrum on Melton’s 22 the ball was moved swiftly along the line.
Full back Patrick joined at pace and his speed carried him around the defensive cover to score his second stunning try of the afternoon.
Only three points separated the teams with 20 minutes remaining but it was Melton who secured victory in the last five minutes with a converted try even though there was a clear knock-on as the player tried to pick up the ball that had been kicked through.
Two key elements in Spalding’s play were missing on the day.
The big carries to tie in the opposition defence were severely handicapped by the number of times possession was lost in contact.
Also support play at the breakdown was not there or too slow, allowing Melton to disrupt and steal the ball.
There will need to be some work done in training this week before Spalding play St Neots at home on Saturday at 2.15pm.
Team: Ash Ankar, Andy Fuller, Luke Turner, Macauley Crane, Adam Sutcliffe, George Brown, George Douglas, Sam Noble, Will Shields, Conall Mason, Kev Hudson, Miguel Da Silva, Gav Sharman, James Luto, Jack Patrick. Subs: Ed Williams, Tom Parker.
