Dominant Ives Put Rushden to the Sword.

Following the Friday Night under lights it was a return to Saturday afternoon as Rushden came visiting. Indeed it was the visitors who struck first as Ives conceded a penalty which was duly converted.

The Bulls struck soon after the restart as they drove down the field with Duncan Williams and Paul Ashbridge to the fore. A neat move from the backs put Max Flint into space and he powered 45 metres, outstripping the defence to dive over and put Ives in front.

The hosts continued to dominate possession and released Flint again, but he was unable to round the last defender for a second score. Although possession and territory were plentiful, the home side couldn't capitalise. Rushden, living of scraps, were able to move downfield and persistent infringing enabled them to get another scoring opportunity again converted to regain the lead.

Ives came storming back and from the next line-out the two Ollies, Bartlett and Raine scythed through the defence and sent Paul Ashbridge over the line for a converted score.

From the restart St. Ives again closed in on the Rushden line, but they weren't accurate enough and were unable to convert the territory into points. As the half drew to a close, another line-out in the Rushden 22 proved fruitful; the ball was claimed and Duncan Williams was driven over for Ives to finish the half 17-6 ahead.

The second half started in the same manner and Ives went over soon after the restart as Tommy Newman finished off the move for the bonus point try.

The game then drifted as play was contained between the 22s for a good 15 minutes. This pattern was broken as Rushden infringed and from the resultant line-out a repeat of the Duncan Williams drive was instigated and converted, Ives now leading 29-6.

Rushden then pushed forwards for a meaningful attack, but were repelled and turned over by the solid home defence. St. Ives turned it over and broke downfield only for hands to let them down as they closed in on the opposition redzone.

The visitors cleared their lines but not for long as the home side ran back pressuring the Rushden back three, a poor kick from them landed in Albiee's hands and he raced for the line only to be tackled short of the line. The ball was recycled quickly enabling a walk-in for Adam Williams.

Further torment for Rushden as Ives raided once more with Ollie Raine feeding Tom Woodrow to stretch the lead. The pain wasn't over yet. Albiee received the ball again and powered through the defence, he was tackled short of the line, but support from Dan De'Ath provided another simple score for Adam Williams with Ives winning 46-6.

Head Coach Paul Humphreys reflected on a resounding win that could have see even more. “Should you be frustrated with your team scoring 8 tries and conceding none? No, should you stand back and applaud, 100% you should.
“We have a good group of players who when allowed to click, will score heavily and we did at times for fun!
“It was good to have some of our injured players available again and get some minutes in their legs, especially with the games we have coming up. There are work-ons and things we need to do better and can get better. And we will! We go marching on and look forward to the challenge next week brings.
The 2s had a good victory over Cambridge, putting the heat on the 1st team squad. We are quietly building as a group of players…”