SPALDING 2ND XV 50
LINCOLN 3RD XV 0
NLD MERIT 2 EAST
WRITTEN BY CHARLIE WOODBRIDGE
PHOTO CREDIT: JOHN CONSTABLE
A young Lincoln third team travelled away to face a strong Spalding 2nd XV who had already beaten the visitors at Lodge Lane earlier in the season.
Lincoln were struggling with an injury depleted side coming into this fixture, with just the starting fifteen travelling to Spalding. However, that didn't stop them from showing great character and determination in the all-Lincolnshire clash.
Spalding quickly opened the scoring. The Lincoln kick-off was caught by Rich Start, who offloaded it to Conall Mason who broke through the Lincoln defence before passing it for inside centre Aaron Brundle to score. The try was converted by Mason to make it 7-0 to Spalding.
Lincoln showed promising signs of holding their own early in the game against as both sides battled it out for the next fifteen minutes with neither scoring.
Spalding’s forward pack gradually wore the Lincoln pack down. After going through the phases of picking and driving, Spalding’s forwards proved too much for Lincoln as loosehead prop Miguel Da Silva went over for an unconverted try.
Twenty-four minutes in Spalding won the ball just inside their half and it was recycled to Da Silva, who proceeded to run half the pitch to score an unconverted try and make it a brace for himself.
A few minutes later Spalding’s Mason excellently broke the line before offloading it to Number 8 Jack Grundy who scored an unconverted try.
Spalding Fly-half Mason was causing trouble for the Lincoln defence, continually breaking the line and he angled his run perfectly to open up space for Grundy to complete his brace. Mason added the extras to make it 29-0.
Just before half-time Spalding’s Alex Worth picked up the ball and broke the line, charging up the pitch as defenders chased him down. The ball was then shipped out wide to winger Aaron Pooley who went over for a try which was converted by Mason.
Lincoln created some excellent attacking opportunities in the first half but were unable to get that final bit over the line thanks to excellent Spalding defending.
The hosts were too strong for the young Lincoln side as they constantly put Lincoln under pressure and looked dangerous whenever the ball was in hand.
Half-time Spalding 2nd XV 36 Lincoln 3rd XV 0
Four minutes into the second half, Spalding’s Callum Ferguson took the ball from the breakdown and surged forward on the move. He then offloaded it to full-back Fergus McKerracher who scored his first try of the day. Tighthead prop Jordan Templer added the conversion to make it 43-0 to Spalding.
Great forwards play from Spalding allowed McKerracher to walk in to score his brace which was converted by Templer.
Full-time Spalding 2nd XV 50 Lincoln 3rd XV 0
POST MATCH COMMENTS
Lincoln 3rd XV manager Tony Clayton said: “I was really pleased with huge parts of our attacking play, but we’ve got some work to do on our defensive game.”
“Joe Grady deserved his man-of-the-match (for Lincoln) and several others could have easily received the accolade.
"Regardless of the final score the guys should be proud of themselves for the effort they put in against a very strong running Spalding side.”
Spalding's 2nd XV vice captain Toby Hollis said: “It was a great team performance. The team worked very well together and put together a clinical performance from start to finish.”
