Phil Brown reports on Saturday's game featuring Oakham and St Ives. 

Director of Rugby Duncan Williams was very satisfied following the close match at Oakham. He commented: "We worked hard all week on our defensive discipline and it came up trumps today.

"It was very enjoyable for the coaches to see what they have shown the players is being displayed on the pitch. A huge congratulations to the players for this performance."

Following the disappointment of casual defence a week earlier, Ives came good with a fine effort on the road. They started well with ball in hand. Charging runs by Dan De’Ath and Michael Sykes put them on the front foot. With only minutes gone, an overlap saw Ben Fleming round the last man to score in the corner.

Both sides had come out to defend with gusto and thwarted the attacks at both ends. On occasion scramble defence was the nature of the play as Ollie Raine dragged the Oakham winger into touch as he went to ground the ball.

Indicative of the close nature of the game, the only other clear scoring opportunity of the half fell to Oakham’s kicker, but he pulled his penalty attempt wide.

The second half saw some excellent game management by Charlie Mandley. He not only snuffed out sniping by his opposite number, but also saw raking kicks relieve pressure a number of times.

Up front, the lineout defence in particular was paying dividends. Having sussed the hosts’ plans, Ollie Bartlett and Connor Newsome soared high either to steal or mess up Oakham’s possession.

With the game entering the final quarter it was still for either side to stamp their authority. And the Bulls did so as Fleming was freed on the flank to run in his second.

As time elapsed, and with a clear compliment to Ives’ defence, Oakham chose to kick a late penalty to salvage a losing bonus point.

Final Score: Oakham 3, St Ives 10.

The 2nds had another tough day, but got on the scoreboard this week. They went down 54-13 away to a strong Mildenhall Red Lodge.