Spalding Rugby Club are beaten by Stockwood Park

Spalding suffered their first-ever league loss to Stockwood Park as a disappointing second half display proved their downfall on Saturday.

The Elephants only trailed their Luton hosts by seven points at half-time in the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) clash.

But they eventually went down to a 33-14 reversal against a side they had narrowly beaten earlier in the season.

A closely-fought game was again expected with Stockwood having an early opportunity after just two minutes when Spalding conceded a penalty at the breakdown but the kick sailed wide.

Both teams settled down and the contest was fairly even with Spalding's scrum of Sam Cowell, Miguel Da Silva and captain Luke Turner in the front row more than holding their own as the home pack tried to exert advantage.

After 13 minutes of play, Spalding lit up the game with the best try of the afternoon.

Having won possession just inside their 22, scrum half Jim Wraith, returning after two months out, whipped a good pass to fly half Willis Ingleby running at pace.

He moved it onto centres Conall Mason and Gav Sharman and, with his pace, cleared Stockwood's initial defence.

Sharman's pass then put winger Sam Christie in space who out-ran any cover defence to score near the posts.

With a Mason conversion, Spalding had a deserved seven point lead on which to build.

This setback stirred the home team into action as they started to make inroads into Spalding's organised defensive line.

They had the confidence to move the ball through their backs to the two wings. Missed tackles down the right wing resulted in a two-on-one situation facing full-back Ed Booth and Stockwood scored their opening try and, with the conversion, the scores were level.

Shortly afterwards, Spalding had Stockwood pinned down near their try line and were awarded a scrum on the five metre line but the opportunity was wasted by not being clinical enough.

Towards the end of the first half, the home team had Spalding under pressure through penalties being given away at the breakdown and the referee having to speak to captain Turner.

A quick tap by Stockwood’s flanker caught Spalding’s defence asleep and, with a try and a conversion, the home team went into half-time with a seven-point advantage.

The second half started with Spalding conceding a very unfortunate try.

They launched a counter-attack with Ben Shields flying down the left wing with full back Ed Booth in support.

The pass back inside to Booth unfortunately went straight into the hands of the only defender who raced away to score the home team's third converted try.

Stockwood's fly half was now in control of the game, either setting his backs running at pace or launching his forwards over the gain line and breaking Spalding’s initial defensive tackles.

In contrast, Spalding were struggling to put together any threats or gain field possession.

Stockwood capitalised on a missed knock on by the referee to score from 15 yards out and shortly afterwards slick passing gave their left winger a scoring chance and, with a good conversion, the home team were heading for victory with 20 minutes remaining.

Spalding used their subs bench to bring on fresh legs and Adam Sutcliffe seized on a rare excursion into the home team's half and, from a scrum on the five metre line, forced his way over in the corner but any comeback was too late.

With George Douglas back in the pack, lineouts were far more effective and back row forwards Alex Worth, Fergus Kerrancher and Will Shields put in good shifts during the afternoon but Spalding's tactical nous is being tested in this league.

Pre-Christmas Spalding were new to the league, but the opposition teams seemed to have worked out their strengths and weaknesses and, in the last few games, there has also been a drop off in levels during the second half, instead of exerting control and going onto win games.

They still remain in seventh spot ahead of Saturday's trip to Old Laurentians.

Spalding: Sam Cowell, Miguel Da Silva, Luke Turner, Jordan Templer, George Douglas, Fergus McKerrancher, Will Shields, Alex Worth, Jim Wraith, Willis Ingleby, Ben Shields, Conall Mason, Gav Sharman, Sam Christie, Ed Booth. Subs: Adam Sutcliffe, Jack Patrick.