Kesteven vs. Spalding (06/10/2018)

Kesteven had Spalding as visitors for a second Lincolnshire derby on consecutive Saturdays.

Early rain gave way to a damp cold afternoon as the teams took the field. Kesteven again made changes with James Goodrich, Tom Miles and Ben Whinney, making his debut, coming into the back division with Sheardown and Xipu returning to the pack.

Spalding kicked off and immediately recovered the ball thus taking the game to Kesteven from the outset. Kesteven had trouble getting their hands on the ball but eventually they got possession and set about the Spalding side. Intelligent play saw them get into the Spalding half and after 10 minutes opened the scoring with a delightful piece of play. Tom Price spotted that the Spalding defence were coming off their line quickly in defence. He popped over a great chip kick which James Goodrich read to perfection to follow up and run through to score. Price converted and added a penalty to open up a 10 point lead. This should have settled the home side but once again they failed to deal with the restart. Spalding swept play up to the Kesteven line and scored in the corner to narrow the lead to 10 – 5.

Kesteven did get control of the game but were unable to add to their score. Price missed a long range penalty before some indiscipline by the home team allowed Spalding to create the chance for a second try which tied the scores at 10 all at the break.

Second half saw both teams trade possession. Parker came on to replace Whinney, who had settled well on his debut. Spalding were starting to get on top and had the greater territory as Kesteven faced the teasing wind. They were rewarded with a 3rd try to open up a 5 point lead with 20 minutes left. Kesteven got a grip of their game and started to impose themselves again. Purvis again led the side well with great support from Sheardown and Webster. Vincent came on to replace Pert and Warden came on for Halliday. With 10 minutes left Webster was sent to the sin bin after a high tackle, leaving the home team short handed. This did not faze them as they again settled down to keep the ball.

Right on time they got themselves into the Spalding half and after a series of drives for the line Ben Addlesee got the ball and spotted a gap which took him clear to the line for the try. Price converted from in front of the posts to give Kesteven a 2 point lead going into injury time. Spalding tried hard to rescue the game but in their desperation to win the ball they conceded a penalty and Martyn Parker was delighted to put the ball into touch to the welcome sound of the final whistle.

Team was: B Whinney, T Miles, D Halliday, J Goodrich, H Cox, T Price, B Addlesee, S Stedman, X Xipu, G Purvis, R Sheardown, W Pert, C Goodrich, R Armstrong, T Webster.

Replacements: C Warden, M Parker, L Vincent.