There was another win for Peterborough Lions this afternoon (Saturday) but the anticipated slaughter of struggling local rivals Spalding never materialized.
The Lions, second in Midlands Division One East, made it six wins from seven outings but only managed to score six tries for a 40-12 victory at the Memorial Field. Many were anticipating a massacre in the region of 100-0 against the rock-bottom Lincolnshire outfit.
“We were expected to put a hatful past them but it doesn't always turn out like the formbook suggests,” said Lions chairman Andy Moore.
“It was a local derby and Spalding, to their credit, made it difficult for us. We started off okay and scored four tries in the first 25 minutes. But then we just sat back and relaxed and allowed Spalding to come back at us, especially in the second half.
“I think our lads all had their minds on next weekend’s big game against Borough. It was just a case of getting this game out of the way for them. It was a mediocre, okay performance but we got the win and we got the bonus point.”
The Lions did pick up a couple of injury worries though. Saad Sait was taken to hospital after five minutes with a smashed nose and Gedis Marcisauskas and Mantas Praijanavicius both suffered leg wounds.
Tries for the Lions came from Marcisauskas, Jacques Vorster, Jaco Steenberg, Ramos Vintkna, Max Guseinov and Rob Shingles with Steenberg adding five conversions.