St Neots RUFC 1st XV - Saints Match Report

As winter truly sets in, St Neots were on the road again, to top of the table Stockwood Park. The Saints had recorded a league double over the hosts last year, including a dramatic win away from home, and another scalp to kick-start the season was the target.

St Neots kicked off deep, and a good chase put immediate pressure on Stockwood Park. The conditions weren’t suitable for playing your way out of trouble, and quickly boot was put to ball and St Neots were back in their own half. A penalty for not rolling away, and Stockwood had perfect field position, just inside the 22. St Neots defence initially was strong, and repelled several attempts over the line, but eventually the opposition squeezed through.

The second followed in similar fashion, as the scoreboard began to reflect the territory stats. The Saints began to rally. Winning the ball from the kick-off, Jordan Rook and Ross Hubbard began to impose themselves with strong bursts around the fringes. This opened the wider gaps, which the front-row found most inviting. Josh Lofty was a miniature wrecking ball, returning quick ball which Callum Austen began to use wisely, sending Jake Bailey and Nick Robinson over the gain-line. A return of three points from Lewis Hall, got Saints on the scoreboard.

The game began to slow down and generally, momentum was short-lived, often halted by a handling error, but Saints still looked dangerous on the counter. James Larman was brewing some serious magic, and good work with George Watson had looked to put the winger through, but Stockwood Park’s covering defence was good enough to shut the break down.

Saints began to kick more through the half-backs to keep themselves in opposition territory, however it was from this Stockwood Park scored their third. A good kick was well-gathered, and it looked like St Neots immediate kick-chase was good enough, but the full-back beat the first line, and used some tidy footwork and speed to dot down under the posts. As the outer extremities began to enter early stages of frost-bite the first half came to a close.

The second half started with some invention. Stockwood Park kicked short, and regathered. Saints were caught flat-footed and several phases later and the lead was extended to 26-3. That was the last of Stockwood Park’s points as St Neots re-gathered themselves and began to play in a far more imposing way. Penalties began to come their way – superb break-down work by Ollie Frestle slowed the ball down and sharp defence from the centre partnership of Bailey and Robinson, aided by Lewis Hall, forced the host’s un-needed errors. The set piece, in particular the line-out, was working well again, and a superb driving maul, a real strength for the Saints this season, set them up just 5m out. Strong carries from Nick Ashford and Rook again tied in the defence and Ross Hubbard was able to storm over. Hall converted to take the score to 26-10. The final 10 minutes was a battle of the scrums, and despite Stockwood Park starting to threaten again, the physicality of St Neots kept them from adding more points to their tally.

Despite another loss, coach Johnny Berwick remained upbeat – “Yet again our performance deserved more from that today. In tricky conditions, we made the right decisions without totally abandoning our attacking instincts. The physicality really came to the fore in the second-half, and to win that period, gives the whole squad great confidence heading into next week”

Saints are back at the Common next Saturday to take on Spalding Kick off 14:15.