Battling Blues fall just short at Spalding

SPALDING 16 - 10 KETTERING

Kettering fell to their third successive defeat after failing to turn their territorial and possession supremacy into points against a committed Spalding side who took full advantage of virtually every opportunity they had in the first half to build what still should have been a reversible 16-3 lead with the strong breeze at their backs, but the Blues only managed a single converted try in the second half and a desperate rearguard action by the home side in the final minutes kept the Blues out.
Kettering began at a terrific pace and should have scored in the 2nds minute when Joe Daniel broke through and a try looked odds on, but the young fullback was held up over the line and the chance went begging. For much of the first quarter Kettering dominated and it looked as though it was only a matter of time before they scored, but then on one of their first excursions into the Blues 22 they scored when the Kettering defence failed to pick up numbers from a lineout and then a missed tackle saw the Spalding second row crash over for an unconverted try. The Blues hit back and Daniel kicked a penalty which was cancelled out on the half hour by a Spalding penalty. At this point the Blues were looking forward to a very small deficit at half-time, but then, on 30 minutes, the home kicked a 2nd penalty and worse was to follow when poor tackling allowed the home forwards to smash their way through from the 22 for a second unconverted try.
As the half drew to a close the Blues once again pounded the Spalding line and turning down 3 easily kickable penalties went for the try. Joe Newman actually got over the line close to the posts but was adjudged not to have grounded the ball and the Spalding defence held out.
The 2nd half again saw the Blues dominating but their only reward was a 60th minute try for Daniel who cut a great line to receive a short pass from Newman to score under the posts and convert the try himself. Despite their efforts the Blues could not manage another score and the home side celebrated their first victory over the Blues for some time.