Spalding RFC concluded their pre-season campaign with a dominant 63-14 friendly win at Thorney on Saturday.
Town, who start their Midlands Three East (South) campaign at Dunstablians on Saturday (3pm), were supposed to be playing Wisbech in the fixture, but Thorney stepped in at the 11th hour.
The Elephants travelled with a large squad of 25 players, consisting mainly of second team performers alongside a handful of first-teamers.
From the kick-off Thorney were the better looking team with a very solid scrum giving them a good platform to spread the ball along their backs.
It was therefore a surprise when Spalding’s backs sprang into life as Connal Mason found left wing Gav Sharman, who out-sprinted the defence to open the scoring.
A converted try saw Thorney go ahead within minutes, but Spalding were soon starting to get to the breakdown quicker and in numbers.
They went back ahead when Ben Shields kicked over the top of the ruck for Matt Holmes to score under the posts, with Mason converting.
However, a yellow card saw Justin Cole sidelined for ten minutes and Thorney took advantage of their extra man to score another converted try.
Spalding then moved into a 24-14 lead at the break when Matt Heaton sprinted halfway down the pitch and offloaded to Mason, who then passed on to Sharman to score in the corner.
Town made numerous changes at half time, bringing on fresh legs for the second half, while Thorney mainly stayed with their starting 15.
With new players and superior fitness the second half saw Spalding run away with the game, scoring five unanswered tries.
Town skipper Dan Adams said: “This was a good opportunity before next week’s first league game away at Dunstablians to see some of the second team players in action, who will be challenging for a first team start.
“The game also showed we are at a good level of fitness but at training during the week there are a few areas we will still need to be working on.”
