St Neots 49-12 Northampton Men's Own

After a close battle in the cold and wet last week, The Saints were happy to be back at home and were confident of beating another Northampton team and put pressure on those further up the table.

The game kicked off, with that so did the rain. It was just a short 5 minute shower but it was enough to force both teams into repeated scrums. As the rain eased and the ball dried Men's Own were in their 22 and desperate to clear the line. Failing to find touch the ball was caught by captain Aiden Jordan. He saw a gap in the kick chase and ran from 25 meters unopposed under the sticks.

It was a good 20 minutes before Saints could find a second opening. After pressure was applied to fly half Josh Spearing he was forced to fight off defenders. With a dummy pass and a strong hand-off he got clear and threw a pass wide to last week's winning try scorer Josh Hudson-lett. He waisted no time putting his head down and charged up the field. It took 2 players to stop him but that meant Rory Dingemans was able to collect his first try of the day finishing off the break.

A few minutes later Men's own put a good kick in behind to apply pressure to St Neots. The ball was cleared up and the boys in blue looked to counter attack in their typical fashion. It was unfortunate however that, with a decision that earned him a cone of shame, scrum half Jack Webb gave the ball to a sneaky Men's Own player who'd appeared in the backline for a 5 meter run in.

St Neots were thankful that not long after the ball was turned over by flanker Pete Sharp. The Men's Own backline was disjointed by their own attacking moves and were not able to react and realign. A simple set of hands was a enough to find Dingemans for his 2nd.

After regathering some energy at half time Dingemans was fresh enough to try for another. After giving a away a penalty Jack Webb grabbed the ball and found Aiden Jordan deep in his own half. He drew his opposite man and gave the ball to Dingemans. With at least 70 meters left he cut an angle and stepped his way through the backline and over for the hatrick.

After 20 minutes of the second half had passed, Northampton were feeling the pressure in their half and tried to kick their way back up the field only to find James Larman, who shifted the ball away from the chasing defence. The ball made it to Aiden Jordan with space in front. He looked to Dingemans on the outside but he pleaded for Jordan to go alone after having made his fair share of runs today. Instead Jordan stepped inside and finally drew in the fullback to give Jonathan Wood his opening try with nobody to beat.

Moments after the restart, Dingemans found himself breaking through once more. He looked to the boot this time with no option available. Hudson-lett got on the end of the grubber and passed infield to Wood who was able to find enough energy to get over the line again.

Men's Own were not giving up their chance of a 4 try bonus point. Time wasn't on their side however they had a penalty 5 meters from the try line and decided to go quickly. They moved the ball down the line and their winger was strong enough to fight off those who were attempting to hold him up.

With only a few minutes left in the game Saints were not finished scoring. They put the pressure on Men's Own as they moved the ball quickly from side to side. It was the powerful second row Ross Hubbard who had plenty to do from 15 meters. A few twists and turns, plus the benefit of long limbs he was able to get himself over the line for one final try for the day.

Saints travel to Bedford Queen's next week in hopes of continuing the winning ways.