Bulls bounce back with resounding victory

Luton arrived at a sweltering Chicken Shack with a youthful side showing 16 changes from their squad the previous week. Ives also had a few alterations, but it was the visitors who started well, converting a penalty in the first two minutes.
The first quarter saw waves of Luton attacks repelled by strong defence across the park by the Bulls. The pack also began to run strongly at the heart of Luton’s defence.
Immediately after the necessary water break, debutant Will Sutton at scrum half benefited following a great run by Albiee Tayedzerwa. The ball was recycled quickly and Sutton released to go over.
Ives began to pick up the pace of the game. Luton offended, Sutton took a quick tap to himself and bolted to the line for his second.
Ives confidence built and immediately from the kick off they moved the ball wide. Slick handling by Ollie Bartlett and Alex Henly led to Joe Cox crossing untouched.
Ives transition was also much better than in previous weeks. They turned Luton over in midfield and once again good hands and support play ended with Henly crossing.
With Sutton converting all four, the half time score was 28-3
Luton suffered a couple of injuries. Whilst their heads did not drop, they had no answer to the strong running and good hands of Ives.
Two front rowers, Sam Marjason-Stamp and Dan De’ath, developed an overlap to release Tayedzerwa to score.
Keeping the ball alive stretched the visitors’ defence before Paul Ashbridge spotted a gap and galloped through to score under the posts.
Soon after Tayedzerwa received the ball in hardly any space, but tiptoed down the touch line for his second. Luton’s frustration was compounded when their 6 was yellow carded for a high shot in the build-up.
Ives continued to run with ball in hand. The pressure again led to a gap through which Ollie Raine darted to score.
The only downside on the day occurred at the start of the final quarter. Fed up with a number of late hits, John Paxton finally lost his patience and took the law into his own hands. The arbiter had no option but to brandish red. Paxton naturally nominated himself for appropriate post-match punishment.
Down to 14, Ives continued to play at pace and scored three more tries in the last ten minutes. From a good scrum, the ball reached Henly who went in for his second.
Tayedzerwa then completed his hattrick following good hands across the line.
An Ashbridge turnover gained Ives possession in the last minute and Connor Newsome crashed over. With the last act of the game, Joe Cox kicked his seventh conversion of 7, a fine display from the tee.
Head Coach Paul Humphreys was pleased. “The opening 15 minutes had me concerned. Luton were up for the game, had us on the back foot and had the upper hand at scrum time,.
“We weathered this period and conceding only the 3 points which was very pleasing. Our defence stood up well all day against some determined Luton running.
“Then we seemed to find our feet. We started to dominate the game, our forwards starting to run powerfully. The backs then had space to canvas their skills, a marked improvement from last week. The boys showed what they can do and the real St Ives turned up!
“A very pleasing performance and one we can build on for this season.”