Spalding Rugby Club beat Towcestrians in Counties 1 Midlands East (South)

Spalding Rugby Club produced their best performance of the season by some distance as they defeated third-placed Towcestrians on Saturday.

The Elephants recorded a 15-22 away win in the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) clash after an outstanding display.

They had to defy the odds when Ben Shields received his second yellow card of the game after just 25 minutes to leave Spalding to play on with 14 men.

The visitors then had to see out a tight last 10 minutes a further player down after Jordan Templar was yellow-carded but Spalding stood strong for a superb success.

The opening few minutes of the game hadn't been too promising with Spalding being penalised for a series of offences at the breakdown, offside and a high tackle.

Towcestrians took the lead with just three minutes on the clock after a successful penalty kick gave the home side a three-point advantage.

Spalding responded with good attacking rugby.

Lachlan Summers and Luke Turner were prominent with their carries and one was finished off by Willis Ingleby putting in a grubber kick for centre Conall Mason who just failed to touch down.

Winger Shields was then penalised for a tackle on the shoulder which was judged by the referee serious enough for a yellow card.

Towcestrians failed to take advantage of their extra man as Spalding defended well with full-back Henry Duce making several good tackles in defence before Shields returned with no further score being conceded by the Elephants.

However, with 25 minutes played, a break by Towcestrians down their left saw another intervention by Shields with the slightest contact on the home winger, which drew a second yellow leaving Spalding a man down for the rest of the game.

The home team took immediate advantage as their winger scored in the corner for an eight-point advantage.

Spalding regrouped and then scored the 'try of their season.'

From just inside their 22, Ingleby spotted that left winger Sam Christie was in open space.

A high cross kick followed and, despite being under pressure, Christie caught the ball high above his head, left the first defender behind and then out-paced Towcestrians' cover defence from 60 metres to touch down.

With a good conversion by Mason, Spalding were one point adrift.

Towcestrians also lost a man just before half-time to a yellow card for a high tackle.

Spalding were playing with great team spirit and were being aggressive with their tackling, scrums were going well and Harry Brett at the front of the line-out was not only winning good possession for scrum half Jim Wraith but also nicked Towcestrians' possession a few times.

Forwards Templer and Henry Hobson bashed their way upfield with carries, hooker Tom Rollinson was in the mix as Spalding drove towards the try line and Summers finished off with an unstoppable drive.

With Mason again converting, Spalding had a six-point lead.

Towcestrians responded immediately thanks to a penalty kick to touch five metres from Spalding's try line but the throw-in was crooked and the visiting scrum did the business and the clearance kick saved the day.

Spalding were back on the attack catching the home side's backs offside with Mason slotting over a penalty kick from distance for a nine-point lead.

Coaches Ali Sharp and Phil Trotman started to use the bench to bring on fresh legs.

Miguel da Silva had earlier replaced Tomas Parker in the front row and he came back on while Callum Lewis replaced Christie.

They say the best form of defence is attack and Spalding were taking the game to Towcestrians.

When the home side did have possession, they were immediately tackled with Jack Patrick making some devastating interventions.

Spalding were then handed a blow with lock Templer yellow carded for a high tackle, taking them down to 13 players for the last 10 minutes.

Towcestrians capitalised thanks to a deep penalty kick to touch which was followed by a converted try to narrow Spalding's lead to two points.

From the kick-off, George Douglas secured the high ball, as he had done all day, and Spalding launched their attack with the forwards making carries down the middle.

Scrum half Wraith, with his excellent passing, whipped the ball from the breakdown to the backs and centre Mason produced a great pass to find Ryan Firth, on from the substitutes bench, on the left wing who sprinted over the try line with a dive in the corner for the final unconverted try.

Towcestrians had 10 seconds on the restart but Spalding secured the ball and duly kicked it dead for an outstanding win.

The determination and team-work was outstanding and the four-point win moved Spalding up one place in the league to seventh spot with only three league games remaining.

They entertain newly-crowned champions Stamford at Centenary Park on Saturday (3pm).

Stamford: Tomas Parker, Tom Rollinson, Luke Turner, Jordan Templer, George Douglas, Henry Hobson, Harry Brett, Lachlan Summers, Jim Wrath, Willis Ingleby, Ben Shields, Conall Mason, Jack Patrick, Sam Christie, Henry Duce. Subs: Miguel Da Silva, Callum Lewis, Ryan Firth.