Spalding Rugby Club beat Towcestrians in Counties 1 Midlands East (South)
Spalding recorded a vital home win after a hard-fought success against Towcestrians on Saturday.
They ran out 19-13 winners against a visiting side who had started the day three places above Spalding in the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) table.
The Elephants finished the match with 14 players but managed the final 10 minutes very professionally despite being a man down to hold onto their lead.
The visitors had arrived at Centenary Park riding high in the table after relegation last season.
Spalding were again skippered by acting captain Willis Ingleby while there was a welcome return for Jack Grundy following a higher level spell at Hinckley.
He slotted in at inside centre with coach Ali Sharp expecting some 'go forward' momentum from the backs.
It was Spalding who set the pace from kick off, pinning the visitors deep in their half and Ingleby soon won a turnover and drew a penalty kick. It was taken by Conall Mason but just sailed wide.
From the restart, flankers Will Shields and Jack Patrick made ground with their carries and a deep kick by fly half Ingelby had Towcestrians again on the back foot.
A goal kick drop out by Towcestrians was fumbled by one of their players giving a scrum in front of the posts but drives by Alex Worth and Lacklan Summers were held up and the game remained scoreless.
However, with the first quarter nearly up, another good pass out by scrum half Jim Wraith saw slick passing by the centres setting left wing Gav Sharman on a run.
A pass back inside found Ingleby in support and he sliced through the remaining Towcestrians' defence and, with Mason converting, Spalding had a deserved lead.
Towcestrians came back strongly, drawing a penalty for offside.
The visitors' backs were now showing up with their pace in attack and drew another penalty and, with a successful kick, they were on the scoreboard.
With the first half nearly up, Spalding were encamped again and threatened the visitors' try line with a succession of pick and goes and drives for the line by the forwards.
With the visitors' defence drawn in, the ball was released to Ingleby to score his second try and, with a simple conversion, Spalding had an 11-point lead at the break.
The second half did not start as well for Spalding with several errors giving possession to Towcestrians.
The scrums were fairly even with lock Zokas Raimondas adding strength and power alongside George Douglas, who again also performed well in the lineouts.
But it was Towcestrians who were the more lively and, from a knock on by Spalding, the ball was moved swiftly along the visitors' backs for them to score out wide.
Spalding re-established their 11-point lead as a powerful scrum set Wraith wide and he produced a good pass for winger Sharman to run in a good try.
The visitors' spirit enabled them to immediately counter attack and establish a position deep in Spalding's half.
There were some good defensive tackles by Grundy and Patrick in particular and, as the visitors drove forward, a strong tackle by Summers saw a clash of heads with the Towcestrians ball carrier, resulting in Summers being dismissed with a red card.
Towestrians immediately capitalised to score an unconverted try.
With a six point advantage, Spalding now mounted a professional and disciplined defence of their lead and saw out the remaining 10 minutes of the game with full back Harry Brett standing up to the challenge in particular.
The victory keeps Spalding in sixth spot ahead of their next match at league leaders Stamford on Saturday, November 30.
Spalding: Sam Cowell, Lachlan Summers, Tom Parker, George Douglas, Zokas Raimondas, Jack Patrick, Will Shields, Alex Worth, Jim Wraith, Willis Ingleby, Ben Shields, Jack Grundy, Conall Mason, Gav Sharman, Harry Brett. Subs: Sam Christie, Fraser Canham, Ryan Firth.
A second team weakened by last minute first team call ups travelled to Nottingham and took on a strong Moderns side and were heavily defeated.
Despite going down to 14 players due to injury, Spalding never gave up and Miguel da Silva and Chris Allen both scored unconverted tries in the Counties 3 Midlands East (Central) clash.
