Spring had definitely arrived in Lincolnshire as Kesteven's 1st XV travelled to local rivals Stamford, a short distance down the A1. Continuing injuries and unavailability's had once again taken their toll on the Black Army. Rob Cann left his usual back row spot to play scrum half and Martyn Parker returned to fly half.

Kesteven started with the down-hill and wind advantage and started very well. Within 1 minute Sean Templeton broke through several Stamford tackles to touch down under the posts giving Martyn Parker an easy conversion.

The same feat was duplicated 5 minutes later as Sean Templeton again broke through the Stamford back line to touch down under the posts. Martyn Parker once again converted.

Kesteven added 5 more points to the tally on the 11 minute mark when James Goodrich punched up the field, feeding Aaron Whittaker who then danced past the lethargic Stamford defence to touch down out wide.

Kesteven were dominant all over the park. From lineouts to scrums and open play, Stamford were really struggling to live with the determination and tenacity of the visiting side. Midway through the first half Kesteven found themselves down to 14 men after a tackle by James Cowley on the Stamford 13 was deemed to be a shoulder barge. Kesteven pressed on undeterred and came away with a further 5 points after Goodrich and Whittaker repeated their earlier display.

Just before Kesteven were back at full strength, Stamford found space out wide and an overlap and were able to touch down for an unconverted try. This sparked life into the home side and the remainder of the half became an even match.

With minutes to go before half time, Stamford had gained ground and were approaching the Kesteven 22m line. Stamford recycled the ball quickly from a ruck but the Kesteven defensive line rushed up quickly and Martin Carew was able to intercept a pass, pluck the ball from the air and charge home for 5 points right under the posts. Martyn Parker converted with ease and the halftime score was 5-31 in Kesteven's favour.

At half time 17 year old William Young came on for Phil Jordan to gain his first 1st XV appearance. The 2nd half started with Stamford upping their game significantly with the downhill and wind advantage. It wasn't long before a Kesteven mistake followed by a clever Stamford move in the centre of the park had given the home side an overlap and they galloped home for a converted try. Less than 5 minutes later the home side had again found an overlap following a Kesteven error and added a further 5 points to their tally making the score 17-31.

With their tails up, Stamford were pressurising Kesteven at breakdowns and forcing the errors and they were able to add a further 2 trys catching many Kesteven players sleeping as the defensive line took too long to organise.

Richard Midgley came on for Andrew Peabody and with just 8 minutes remaining, Stamford had closed the gap to 29-31. Stamford continually pushed Kesteven into making errors and with just 2 minutes to go the home side gained possession in the Kesteven 22. Once again Kesteven's defensive line was slow to organise and react and Stamford were able to batter their way through for a questionable try to clinch the game 34-31.

Kesteven's first half performance is right up there with the best of the season so far with the whole team shining. Head coach Mark Sayle was very pleased with the sides performance despite some minor errors in play costing Kesteven dearly in the 2nd half.

Stand out players of the game include Sean "two-tries"Templeton for his charging runs and solid defence - Kieran Taylor for creating a number of breaks and gaining many yards - Martin Carew for his cover defence and many carries in attack - Aaron Whitaker for his devastating attacks and solid last-man-defence - Tony Woolerton (Stamford's Man of the Match) for tackling anyone holding a ball - but Man of the Match went to James Goodrich who assisted with 2 trys, was key to many turnovers and made significant ground whenever he had the ball.

Team:
Scott Odams, Doug Hayward. James Cowley, Will Pert, Martin Carew, Andrew Peabody (Richard Midgley 69), Tony Woolerton (c), Mark Sayle (Jnr), Robb Cann, Martyn Parker, Phil Jordan (William Young 40), Sean Templeton, James Goodrich, Kieran Taylor, Aaron Whittaker. Sub (not used): Peter Dolan

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

Trys: Sean Templeton (2), Aaron Whittaker (2), Martin Carew