Stamford Rugby Club beat Vipers from Leicester to open up a gap at the top of the table

A tremendous five-point win on Saturday has moved Stamford Rugby Club clear at the top of the Counties 1 Midlands East (South) table.

The purple, black and whites recorded a 38-18 home success over title rivals Vipers at Hambleton Road.

It has given them a five-point advantage at the top of the table after recording a sixth successive league victory.

It was another hard-fought contest against their Leicester visitors who have always been a quality team who you never get an easy game against.

It was the home side that made the early running and within the first five minutes they recycled the ball to put hooker Harley Riches in for his customary try. Frazer Hutton converted for a 7-0 lead.

As the game settled, the visitors were using their big runners to break down the home defence but Stamford were able to withstand the pressure and then use their quicker forwards to make good ground.

Jack Jones won a line out and was driven on where he released Austin Baker to make more ground before the ball was passed to Ed Cox on the run who crashed over for a try which was converted by Hutton to extend the lead.

Vipers' response was immediate as they kicked long and won a line out which was driven over by their pack for a try to make the score 14-5.

Both sides were using their own different tactics to try to open each other up and, from a close range scrum, Vipers fed their big centre on a crash ball run.

However, he was hit and stopped by a tremendous two-man tackle which was cheered by the home supporters.

Stamford used Dave Martin to run out of defence and this was carried on by Gus Davies who found Jones in support to score. The reliable boot of Hutton added the extra points to make it 21-5.

The Leicester side hit back and Town gave away a series of penalties which allowed them to gain good field position that resulted in a try to make the half-time score 21-10.

With both teams fully committed, it was inevitable that there would be injuries.

Martin on the wing was replaced by James Wilson and second row Davies was substituted for Ali Shaw, although neither injury is expected to be long term.

Wilson, Jones and Ben Chisholm combined well for Stamford but they were stopped short while Vipers launched a counter attack that was halted by the reliable Stamford defence.

Cox ran it back, chipped ahead but was tackled late in his follow up which resulted in a penalty to Stamford and a yellow card for Vipers.

Town also received a warning from the referee about the number of penalties they were conceding and, when Shaw transgressed, he received a yellow card making the head-count 14 each. Vipers kicked the penalty to make it 21-13.

Both sides were having to work hard to make progress and it was Stamford that got the breakthrough when Cox was stopped short. The ball was recycled for the returning Shaw to score near the posts.

Hutton kept up his 100 percent record with the conversion to make the scoreboard read 28-13 and secure the four-try bonus point for Stamford.

The game continued in its full-on manner and, when a gap appeared, Zach Morley made a break that took him deep into the visitors' half and ended with a Stamford penalty for Hutton to kick to make it 31-13.

Deep into the game, Town put together their best attacking move from a line out. The ball was moved quickly for Wilson to sweep around the outside and score out wide. Hutton again obliged with the conversion to increase the score to 38-13.

In the last minute, Vipers put together a move of their own to also score out wide to make the final score 38-18.

Stamford will now intend to continue their winning streak when they travel to Luton to face Stockwood Park on Saturday.