Rushden and Higham 29 - 22 St Neots

St Neots travelled to Rushden off the back of two successful bonus point wins. Rushden and Higham having performed well early in the season it was going to be a competitive match. From the start R&H put St Neots under pressure, the fly half was confident off the boot and took 3 points early in the game to get their points flowing. St Neots fly half Rory Dingemans responded quickly with his own 3 points choosing to use the free play of a penalty advantage to have a drop goal attempt. To even his suprise it soared through the uprights and leveled the scores.

Rushden responded with another penalty kicked and followed it up with a try. Dominant scrums and quick pace of the back of the scrum allowed Rushden to put 7 more on to the board. Saints weren't finished yet for the first half though. A big carry from Ross Hubbard opened space for Aiden Jordan to draw the final tackle and flick the ball to Dingemans who was able to find the last few meters to the try line.

St Neots were happy to have gained some momentum and moved the ball wide from the kick off. After some forward crashes Dingemans threw a miss pass that hit Aiden Jordan out wide. He drew in the winger and passed to Josh Hudson-Lett who still had at least 60 metres to go. He powered through covering tackles and sprinted comfortably in under the posts.

Rushden finished the half with a try of their own, working the ball into a wide channel and finding a hard line on the inside. A tricky kick for the 10 spoiled his 100% record for the first half.

In the second half of Rushden were keen to get themselves back on the front foot. So far they had kept themselves in the lead through penalty kicks, but were struggling to to break down a relentless St Neots defence. One place where Rushden were looking more dominant was in the set piece with St. Neots missing some of their key forwards this week. Rushden began opting to kick for lineouts and scrums when Saints penalty counts rose. It wasn't long before the pressure was too much and the Saints found themselves under their own posts after pick and goes inched over the try line.

Rushden looked like they could relax in the closing minutes as flanker Alex Ramwell made a tackle off the ball and was yellow carded. Having been in this position before the St. Neots team knew this was no reason to give up. Strong carries looked to be worrying the Rushden defenders who were giving away penalties as they attempted to stop the Saints moving forward towards their try line. St. Neots continually tapped and went as momentum was on their side. Things evened themselves up when Dingemans looked to chip over the the defenders. He was met with a tackle off the ball where the defending player chose to use their leg. The ref quickly pulled out his yellow card and both teams were down to 14 for the last play of the game.

St. Neots looked to use the width hoping to expose tired forwards in the late stages of the game. Hudson-Lett got his hands on the ball and looked for his second try of the game. He made significant ground towards the posts but came up just a few metres short. A few determined runs by St. Neots forwards resulted in substitute Phil Fernie giving Saints the final word and a losing bonus point.

Saints play top-of-the-table Spalding at home on Saturday