Stamford Rugby Club beat Towcester to go top of Counties 1 Midlands East (South)

A five-match winning streak has propelled Stamford Rugby Club to the top of the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) table.

Town took over top spot at the weekend after a 38-28 victory over a strong Towcestrians side at Hambleton Road.

They secured the bonus point in the victory which moved them into pole position above Biggleswade who inflicted Stamford's only defeat of the season last month.

The purple, black and whites started the game well at the weekend and, when the visitors strayed offside, they kicked to the corner.

From the resulting line-out, the forwards drove over to allow prop Joe Ireland to score with Frazer Hutton adding the conversion for an early 7-0 lead.

Town were combining forwards and backs as they tried to work an opening but, when the ball went loose, Towcester counter-attacked and poor Stamford tackling allowed them in for a converted try to make the scores even at 7-7.

From the restart, Stamford took the ball on and, with the third phase, they released Tristan Small on the charge who swatted tacklers away to crash over for a try to regain the lead.

Once again the visitors retaliated and more poor defence resulted in a converted try to give Towcester a 12-14 lead.

Stamford were trying to work the ball upfield but inaccurate passing and kicks were not finding touch and this allowed the visitors' defence time to regroup and put together some attacks of their own.

They got their reward from a short range converted try to increase the lead to 12-21.

This seemed to shake Stamford back to life and they immediately replied with another drive from Small who then released Harley Riches to score a try which reduced the deficit to 17-21.

The purple, black and whites' mindset and attitude was now in gear and they went straight on the attack.

They won a line out and Jack Jones was driven over for a try which Hutton converted to give a half-time lead of 24-21. This was also the fourth try so the bonus point was secured.

Stamford made changes for the second half, one of which saw Ali Shaw come into the back row.

He soon made his presence felt with an unstoppable run for a try which was again converted to move the scoreboard to 31-21.

Towcester are not a side that gives in and they put the pressure on but Stamford were closing down their space to work in and time on the ball.

This allowed Ed Cox to make one of his trademark interceptions to jog in under the posts. Hutton added the extras to make the score 38-21.

Again it was the Northamptonshire side that tried everything to break through but the famous Stamford defensive wall stayed firm.

It was not until the last minute that it was finally breached for a try which when converted made the final score 38-28.

Stamford played some impressive fast, open rugby but they also got a reminder not to take anything for granted.

Their next fixture is on Saturday, November 9, at home to second-placed Vipers which promises to be one of the games of the season.