Ives suffer second half blues after tight first period

The Bulls travelled to Corby to take on second in the table Stewarts and Lloyds on a very wet November Saturday. It was soon evident why S&L are pushing for top spot as they pressed from the start and powered over under the posts for a converted score.
From the restart they pressed again but Ives held firm and a period of defence ensued. However, good home drives forced a 5m scrum from which they eventually went over again, this time unconverted.
Ives finally got a foothold in the game and had some much-needed possession, which enabled them to make ground and camp in the home side's 22. Ives knocked on from a lineout, but the subsequent home scrum went backwards at a rate of knots gifting Ives a penalty. Opting for a scrum the ball was fed to Alex Henly who dived under the posts, the try being converted by Joe Cox to pull the score back to 7-12.
The proverbial 'coach-killer' occurred from the restart as Ives gave away a penalty which was duly kicked to stretch the home lead to 8 points.
St. Ives regrouped, resisting home pressure before marching down the pitch to camp in opposition territory, leading to a kickable penalty just before half-time to turn around 15-10 in arrears.
The second half started in a similar fashion as the home side dominated but couldn't find a way through the solid defence. However, a penalty concession for a high challenge led to a failed attempt to add the points, this offence was repeated shortly afterwards with S&L opting to kick to the corner for a lineout.
The lineout appeared to have been won by the visitors, but a kerfuffle ensued with the returning Duncan Williams being asked to take a 10-minute break. With Ives down to 14, S&L continued to dominate with Ives managing to hold up the attack to earn a goal-line dropout. From a lineout the home forwards peeled around the front and bundled over in the corner, the try being converted. The restart proved fatal for Ives as S&L gathered and romped downfield to score again, this time unconverted.
Not being out of the game at this point, Ives managed to push forward through Paul Ashbridge, and forced the home side into a desperate clearance just outside their 22m - Ives won the lineout and attempted to push through midfield, but the ball was spilled with S&L clearing up and racing downfield for another converted score.
This pattern was repeated about 5 minutes later, but Ives prevented an immediate score although from the resultant scrum S&L were able to push the ball wide for another converted score.
Ives were determined to have the final word, but in attempting to run out of their own 22 the ball was dropped again, claimed by the hosts who managed to, through sleight of hand, made a forward pass look as though it had gone in the correct direction and the referee awarded the score which was again upgraded to a full seven points.
As the game drew to a close, Ives were still defiant in attempting to get on the scoresheet again and had much more success as they forced their way upfield to reach the opposition red zone. It was not to be as the conditions took their toll and the ball fell from the grasp and proceedings were brought to an end. Ives suffering a chastening 48-10 defeat.
Head Coach Paul Humphreys tipped his hat to the opposition. “S&L had a game plan and executed it very well. They started well and we were slow out of the blocks, conceding two soft tries.
We rallied and got back to 15-10, looking like we were getting into the game.
Halftime came and killed what momentum we had followed by a second half that was all S &L. We fired very few shots. Not our finest hour, but perhaps it’s the wake-up call we needed.
We will lick our wounds, regroup and go again next week.”