Midlands 3 East (South) Huntingdon Stags 36 Northampton 14 A DOMINANT performance saw Stags claim their sixth win in nine games to move up to fifth in the table. The home side bossed the game throughout, racing into a 17-0 lead, and although the visitors

Midlands 3 East (South)

Huntingdon Stags 36 Northampton 14

A DOMINANT performance saw Stags claim their sixth win in nine games to move up to fifth in the table.

The home side bossed the game throughout, racing into a 17-0 lead, and although the visitors rallied, Huntingdon recorded a comfortable win.

Stags re-jigged their team to good effect with Simon Malaeulu coming in at blindside flanker, while Neil Welsh played at full back and Dale Abblitt marshaled the left wing.

The two Simons, Leader and Orange, played in the centre and it was a good pairing for the former, who scored two tries.

Huntingdon's opening try was an excellent one, with good handling and support play allowing Damien Whales to feed Leader the killer pass.

A well-worked line-out saw Stags extend their lead further when Mike Blanchard touched down. A Whales penalty then extended the lead to 17-0.

Stags seemed to relax after taking the comfortable lead and Northampton scored a try on the break to make the half-time score 17-7.

The lead began to creak even further after the interval when the visitors scored another try through the flank to reduce Huntingdon's lead to three points.

The home forwards then re-established control to squeeze their opponents out of contention.

Whales set up Leader for his second score via a tap penalty and James Pinkney did well to create space for Abblitt to score, before the wing repeated the trick shortly afterwards.

Stags are without a game this weekend, though the second string have a home fixture against Bury St Edmunds on Saturday, kick-off 2.15pm.