Kesteven Show Promise

Report by Bill Berridge

Mark Dent came in at stand off while Sean Templeton added a strong presence to the centre.

Spalding kicked off and Kesteven looked to have secured the ball but they were penalised and Spalding kicked the goal for an early 3 point lead. Kesteven settled well after this and contained the Spalding attack well. The defensive partnership of James Goodrich and Sean Templeton could not be broken while the back three of Olly Wood, Alex Ingram and Aaron Whittaker cleared any danger. K’s struggled to get out of their own half but when they did they were eventually awarded a penalty 40 metres out. Daniel Turner was handed the kicking duties and he steered the kick safely between the posts to level the scores.

From the restart the home side were penalised again for not releasing the ball. This time the kick failed but Spalding had a hold in the Kesteven half and eventually won a line out near the home line. From this their pack were able to roll over the line to score. The conversion from out wide was successful to open up a 10 – 3 lead.

Kesteven showed some god spirit and when Spalding were penalised for a late tackle and their number 7 was sent to the sin bin K’s were able to get some time in the Spalding 22. They had a number of drives for the line and just when it looked like they would come away with nothing they manufactured a try. The ball was worked out to the left and when it looked like the move had broken down Aaron Whittaker broke clear to go in under the posts for a try. Daniel Turner converted to level the scores again at 10-10.

The second half started well for Kesteven. The forwards started to get on top in the scrums and kept Spalding in their own half. 20 minutes in came the turning point as first Sean Templeton went off to be replaced by Jake Hughes, then James Goodrich was sent to the sin bin, taking one for the team as the number of penalties for handling in rucks counted against them. Spalding kicked the penalty to ease in front and then added another with 10 minutes left. Tom Webster and Mark Sayle were replaced by Andrew Peabody and Will Pert.

The huge effort earlier in the match now told as Spalding kept Kesteven pinned back and right at the end one final penalty allowed Spalding to deny Kesteven even a losing bonus point with the last kick of the game. Final score was Kesteven 10 Spalding 19.

This result leaves Kesteven in the relegation zone and a gap is opening up above them. However there are still a number of opportunities for them to climb the table and their performance against Spalding shows they have the ability to compete against the best teams in the league.

Whittaker was awarded man of the match for his overall performance, including his try.

Team: Scott Odams, Rob Sheardown, James Cowley, Martin Carew, Tom Webster, Mark Sayle (Jnr), Tony Woolerton, Daniel Turner, Adam Draper, Mark Dent, Alex Ingram, James Goodrich, Sean Templeton, Olly Wood Aaron Whitaker. Replacements: Will Pert, Andrew Peabody, Jake Hughes.

Coaches: Mark Sayle, Mally Turner & Ian Payne
Statistician: Nikki Turner

Trys: Aaron Whitaker (40mins)