Following the high of winning last week, a depleted St Ives Rugby came crashing back down to earth following a heavy 43-10 defeat at the hands of Stockwood Park.

St Ives travelled to Stockwood Park with 10 enforced changes to the side who beat Stamford through injury and unavailability and had to contend with dreadful rain and underfoot conditions.

Stockwood demonstrated good counterattacking play to blitz St Ives with six tries in the first 50 minutes as the Bulls suffered from a lack of cohesion.

Both sides struggled to hold onto the ball at the start, but it was Stockwood who capitalised on a St Ives spill to sprint across the whitewash from his own half for the first try.

The Hunts Post: Marc Tirant smothers a Stockwood player in the tackle.Marc Tirant smothers a Stockwood player in the tackle. (Image: Paul Cox)

Immediately from the kick-off, a slip in the mud allowed Stockwood to dart through a gap and score again and make it 10-0.

The rest of the half was even, with both sides thwarting one another with some strong defence until Stockwood broke for a converted score and a 17-0 lead in the last play of the half.

Ives were slow to restart, and Stockwood took full advantage scoring three quick tries for a 36-0 lead.

With the result gone, Ives started to play with more continuity and had their opponents on the back foot for the next 30 minutes. 

The Hunts Post: Centre Cullan Smy is caught inches from the try line.Centre Cullan Smy is caught inches from the try line. (Image: Paul Cox)

Shaun Mundy got to within inches of scoring against his old club with the ever-present Josh Dear on hand to complete the drive and score.

From the kick-off, a great chip to space was regathered and carried just short of the line before support from Ben Fleming arrived to slide over and make it 36-10.

The Hunts Post: Ben Fleming slides over for St Ives' second and final score of the game.Ben Fleming slides over for St Ives' second and final score of the game. (Image: Paul Cox)

Stockwood had the last laugh though, adding gloss to the scoreline with a try to finish the game 43-10 winners.

Following the game, Coach Paul Humphreys said. "The ying and the yang of St Ives! The positives to come out of the game are that we won the last 30 minutes.

When we play as we train, teams cannot live with us; that's clear to see.

"The number of changes to the team week on week does not help.

"All the lads that came in did a sterling job, we cannot ask more of them. They put their hands up and put in a shift."

Next up for St Ives is a tough test at home to league leaders Vipers RFC on January 21.