Spalding Rugby Club are beaten by Newbold-on-Avon

Spalding saw their run of three successive victories come to an end in Counties 1 Midlands East (South) on Saturday.

The Elephants went down to a 41-14 away reversal at third-placed Newbold-on-Avon after the visitors faded following a bright start.

They dominated the majority of the first half and took a 14-point lead until injuries and yellow cards saw Spalding concede three tries in the last seven minutes before the second half became a disjointed affair.

The first 25 minutes had seen Spalding playing like a top league team with the forwards and backs combining to dominate their hosts.

Indeed, for the first 10 minutes, Spalding applied so much pressure while retaining possession that Newbold did not get out of their own half.

The forwards were leading the charge with big carries from Luke Turner, debutant Dominic Broadhead and Tom Rollinson with flanker Will Shields always first to the breakdown to support and secure the ball.

Encamped 10 metres from the Newbold try line, prop Sam Cowell received a pass from scrum half Ben Shields and drove forward through four defenders to open the scoring with Conall Mason converting for an early lead.

Steadily, the home team came into the picture by using their big carriers, but Spalding were still flowing with Lachlan Summers always making yards and setting up ruck possession.

In the lineout, both Will Shields and Henry Hobson were doing well by retaining possession.

Another flowing Spalding attack looked likely to stall as Newbold's backs were pushing up in defence but Mason chipped the ball over, chased down, collected it on the bounce to score under the posts and, with a simple conversion, the visitors were leading by 14 points.

The home team now started to respond with some powerful running and a scrum was conceded on Spalding's five metre line.

A pick up and drive for the line saw the tackling defenders hold the ball up for a try line drop out.

However, Newbold came straight back to open their scoring through their enormous prop who burst through a number of tackles.

The game was now end to end but Spalding were on a warning from the referee on the number of penalties and offsides starting to mount up.

Will Shields went too quickly down the side of a ruck which resulted in a yellow card.

Summers was still leading the charge by making inroads and Yogi Schrauwer from the seconds in at lock was standing up to the challenge but, with seven minutes to half-time, the tables were completely turned.

Broadhead went down with a leg injury and was replaced by Alex Worth.

Summers was then yellow carded by the referee for a high tackle and at the same time prop Cowell came off injured and was replaced by Cameron Fraser.

With two players down and a reshuffled team, the home side took full advantage and ran in three tries before half-time to lead by 14 points.

The second half saw uncontested scrums, a red card to a Newbold player for a dangerous tackle and Turner yellow carded for complaining to the referee about a dangerous stamping at a ruck.

The home team added a further try and a couple of penalties to seal their success.

Spalding will need to get back to winning ways at home on Saturday against Peterborough Lions (2.15pm).

They are currently eighth in the 12-team division and a win will retain the safety of their mid-table league position.

Spalding: Sam Cowell, Tom Rollinson, Luke Turner, Henry Hobson, Yogi Schrauwer, Dominic Broadhead, Will Shields, Lachlan Summers, Ben Shields, Harry Brett, Sam Christie, Conall Mason, Gav Sharman, Ollie Machin, Henry Duce. Subs: Alex Worth, Cameron Fraser.