Grimsby 0 Loughborough 17
Basic errors stopped Grimsby Rugby Club taking the two points they should have bagged against Loughborough. As a result their relegation from Midlands Three East (North) was sealed. An average side had travelled to Springfield Road but the Blues failed to turn possession into points and lost 17-0.
The home XV started very well, pinning Loughborough in their own half with clean lineouts and powerful driving mauls from the forwards. And when the visitors lost a man to the sin-bin for repeated infringements, the try line was begging. But the forwards went for the direct route one too many times, failed to use the backs, who were screaming for the ball, and eventually it was turned over. When the backs did get possession they lacked precision in their passing and dropped too many balls - a problem for Grimsby all game. After coming away empty-handed, Loughborough's confidence was boosted and they hit Grimsby with two sucker punches. The Blues failed to cover the extra numbers out wide and conceded two tries before half-time.
The win was still in their sights as former captain Jan Slosmanis made a comeback for the second 40 minutes. But once again silly errors conceded possession, such as missed kicks to touch from fly-half Lee Spall and dropped balls from both forwards and backs. Some back-to-basics pick and drive rugby started to gain the Blues territory, however, culminating in a disallowed try for outside centre Ben Pharaoh. Another score was scrubbed out after Shane Lowery stole a ball from a scrum illegally. Grimsby forced another Loughborough sin-binning by the referee - who took charge well - but could not breach the visitors' line. The home side knew luck was against them when a speculative clearance kick bounced away from full-back Ed Studd and into the path of the yellow and blues' winger, who kicked and chased to put the game out of sight. There were positives, such as the Grimsby scrum which stole a few against the head, but the Blues were too slow in clearing the rucks and used the "up-the-jumper" approach too much on a good day for running rugby. By the time the backs did get the ball they were often too flat to make an impact and lacked precision when it mattered.