Grimsby 3rds 32 Market Rasen 3rds 14
Grimsby Boars let their rugby do the talking in a hot-headed encounter with a Market Rasen and Louth side at Springfield Road. A hat-trick from prop Nathan Turner and a brace of tries from veteran forward Tim Lansley-Hogg were the lion's share of a 32-14 victory. The Blues were under pressure for the first 10 minutes, but forwards and backs battled back to produce some penetrative rugby.
A powerful run from Turner opened the scoring and Lansley-Hogg showed a stiff arm to several flailing Rasen tacklers to make it 10-0. Inside centre Dan Evans fed off good service from fly-half Darren Spreadbury and made a handful of incisive breaks. And running onto a well-timed pass from second row Marc Burke, he shipped it to outside centre Mike Burton who held off two Rasen backs and scored in the corner. A lapse of concentration before half-time allowed Rasen back in when the Blues defence failed to fan out and the nippy left winger got on the end of an overlap.
As the Blues' pack took control after the break, Turner scored another two, showing both pace and power. Scrum-half Lee Spall put over the only conversion of the match for the Blues, before number eight Lansley-Hogg peeled off a maul and touched down to make it 32-7. The last 15 minutes was marred by several scuffles and Spall was sin-binned for a tame infringement by comparison when he saw yellow for a shoulder charge. A late penalty try for Rasen was too little, too late, as a good all-round Boars' performance kept the season bubbling along for the second string.