League leaders Old Hales travelled to Ludlow on Saturday and richly deserved their 22-15 win. In what was a hard-fought game, it was Hales’ three tries which saw them claim this difficult scalp. However, the visitors’ lack of discipline at the breakdown and an excellent kicking display by Ludlow’s Ross MacLochness never saw the Wassell Grove outfit pull safely clear.

In the fifth minute, the visitors had a succession of attacking scrums five metres out from the line.

When the forwards could not drive the their opponents over the line, Hales changed tack and scrum-half Chris Wagstaff scrambled over the line and with Mark Wakefield converting, Hales had a seven-point lead. From the re-start, Hales were deemed to have played the ball on the floor and MacLochness stepped up to slot the first of five penalties.

Three more followed in the 13th, 26th, and 38th minutes, despite Hales dominating territory and possession.

The half-time team-talk seemed to influence the Hales players and they came out firing in the second half.

In the 56th minute, Wakefield scored a well-taken try after a fine display of handling in the midfield between forwards and backs. The touchline conversion was missed, but the game was now all-square. The pressure appeared to be telling on the kickers, with both missing two penalty kicks in turn. However, the last quarter saw the visitors kick well from hand. The ploy worked to good effect when, in the 58th minute, Ludlow prop Matt Fergusson was penalised for entering the breakdown from the side when Hales were set to score. Wakefield duly added the important kick to land three points for Hales and recapture the lead.

This was cancelled out in the 67th minute with a penalty from the halfway line by MacLochness. But, soon after, Hales added to their lead with a converted Steve Gollings try. After a series of driving runs, most notably from in-form prop Steven Head, Gollings gathered the ball and dived for the line over a sea of bodies. Wakefield added the conversion to give the visitors a seven-point lead, which they bravely held onto.