Spalding Rugby Club beat Old Laurentians in Counties 1 Midlands East (South)
Spalding completed a third successive victory in Counties 1 Midlands East (South) with a 24-30 away win at Old Laurentians on Saturday.
The success sealed a league double over their Warwickshire hosts who at the start of the game were lying just one place and one league point below Spalding.
With the return of captain Luke Turner in the front row, Spalding took to the field in a determined mood.
With the home team kicking off, possession was with Spalding and they immediately started to make inroads into Laurentians territory with decent carries by Lachlan Summers and Henry Hobson.
Ball retention was good and, with a ruck safely secured, scrum half Jim Wraith soon had the ball fizzing out to fly half Conall Mason.
Prop Sam Cowell made inroads with a burst of pace and the final pass out to left wing Sam Christie saw him round the home side's defence and, with a simple conversion by Mason, Spalding were seven points up after five minutes.
Laurentians came back strongly with Spalding penalised for not rolling away at the ruck but the penalty kick missed.
Within the next couple of minutes, Spalding were caught offside and this time the penalty kick flew between the posts.
Laurentians were on the up and from a lineout on Spalding’s five metre line they set up a driving maul and, with a converted try, the home team were in the ascendancy.
Both teams now had their moments.
The battle in the scrums was fairly even but, with four man lineouts and George Douglas securing good possession, Spalding were playing good open running rugby.
Gav Sharman was making several breaks at outside centre but it was a Mason penalty that levelled the score.
With penalties given away at a lineout being followed by a high tackle, a successful penalty kick edged Laurentians back into the lead.
Mason was impressive with a couple of superb breaks to slice through Laurentians' defence in midfield.
It was one of his passes along the backs that launched Christie down the wing before a move back inside to the supporting Sharman to score an excellent converted try and secure a half-time lead of four points.
From the bench, Henry Duce replaced full-back Ryan Firth but it was the home team who immediately built momentum.
Spalding were caught offside and with the successful penalty kick there was only one point in it.
Another penalty was then given away and the home side's kick towards the corner saw a successful catch and drive for Laurentians' second try and the lead.
The game was now fairly even but Spalding's number eight Jack Grundy was having his best game with his forceful carries since his return from Hinckley.
From the base of a scrum, his drive drew in Laurentians' defence and Cowell continued the move and drove over the try line and, with a Mason conversion, Spalding were back in front by three points.
It looked odds on for the home team to retake the lead from a crossfield kick after lineout possession but Duce made a superb last man tackle and centre Harry Brett then won the turnover and the penalty clearance kick relieved the pressure.
It was then the home team's turn to fall foul of the offside law with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining as a number of players were in front of the kicker and not retreating.
Up stepped Mason and, with two successful penalty kicks from 40 metres, Spalding had built a lead of nine points with three minutes remaining.
The home team came back and with the last kick of the game slotted over a penalty kick for a losing bonus point but Spalding had battled for a deserved win.
Spalding are away again on Saturday with a tough game expected at fourth-placed Newbold-on-Avon.
Spalding: Sam Cowell, Lachlan Summers, Luke Turner, Jordan Templer, George Douglas, Henry Hobson, Will Shields, Jack Grundy, Jim Wraith, Conall Mason, Sam Christie, Harry Brett, Gav Sharman, Ben Shields, Ryan Firth. Subs: Henry Duce, Ollie Machin, Yogi Schrauwers.