The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
West Bridgford 33
Spalding RFC 12
It was a case of déjà vu for Spalding RFC on Saturday as more basic errors led to them losing yet another Midlands Two East (North) match.
West Bridgford were the latest side to hand Town a defeat, as they romped to a 33-12 success in Nottinghamshire.
It’s now just one win from eight league games for Spalding, who remain bottom of the table and are now in serious danger of suffering back-to-back relegations.
It always looked to be a tough task for them on Saturday, with their hosts coming into the game in the top five.
That was evident early on, as West Bridgford looked the sharper team and Spalding were having to defend deep inside their half.
The hosts eventually secured their own lineout ball and, with skipper Sam Cooke completely missing his tackle, they went over for a converted try and an early 7-0 advantage.
The failure to execute a tackle also led to the next try.
Bridgford were spreading the ball wide to their left winger, who was starting to give Huw Sharman no end of problems with his speed.
Full-back Josh Broome, was the last line of defence on one such occasion – and he also failed with a poor tackle attempt and Town found their disadvantage doubled.
Basic skills continued to let Spalding down. With 20 minutes played, a poor lineout throw by Cooke saw the ball turned over and the left winger again demonstrated his pace to score near the posts for a converted try.
Some relief followed as, from the kick-off, Spalding were able to press Bridgford in their own half with some sustained pressure.
A driving maul developed and Kier Moore burst forward with the ball tucked under, but he was held up over the line.
From the scrum there was a slight wheel in Spalding’s favour and Harry Sharman crashed over on the blind side to open the away scoring.
However, just before the whistle Town’s poor defensive right-hand side was exposed again as Bridgford’s outside centre cut through again to give them a half-time lead of 28-5.
Changes were made at the break, with Sam Cowell replacing Brian Browne in the forwards and Gavin Harrison making his first-team debut. That saw Kieran Lake move to right wing in place of Huw Sharman.
It seemed to work, with Spalding starting the second half with much more determination and attacking intent.
The ball was spread along the backs and Harrison was stopped five metres from the try line. Unfortunately, he immediately went down suffering from a broken ankle and an ambulance was called.
As he could not be moved the match continued on an adjacent pitch, with Jordan Templer coming off the bench.
With Ash Piccaver winning good ball at the lineout and the forwards starting to work well at the breakdown, there was more consolation try for Town. Ryan Chappell burst through two tackles and offloaded to Sam Cowell in support and he sprinted over with Broome converting.
The final score fell to Bridgford, who capitalised on a long clearance kick and a very favourable bounce as their left winger chased down, picked up and scored.
Then came a flashpoint, as Town scrum-half Will Shields and his opposite number were both red carded for throwing punches at a scrum.
Although Spalding edged the second half, far too many basic errors in the first period had already cost them any chance of adding to their points tally.
Spalding RFC: John Barrett, Josh Caley, Kier Moore, Brian Browne, Ash Piccaver, Sam Cooke (captain), Ryan Chappell, Harry Sharman, Will Shields, Adam McHugh, George Douglas, Shaun Williams, Kieran Lake, Huw Sharman, Josh Broome, Subs Sam Cowell, Jordan Templer and Gavin Harrison.
Next game: Saturday, December 5 – Town v Stamford (2.15pm).
Saturday’s results (M2E): Ashbourne 22 Nottingham Casuals 15; Coalville 11 Market Bosworth 29; Dronfield 30 Mansfield 20; Stamford 15 Southwell 13; West Bridgford 33 Spalding 12.
