It may have been Football Factory-esque but Simon Rose’s pre match speech to his team mates clearly worked as it fired them up for a convincing win over local rivals St Neots and led to him putting in a man-of-the-match performance.

Despite Jack Frost blowing through the Racecourse, the ground passed an early morning inspection and with near perfect underfoot conditions which captain Wayne Bradley describe as “hard – and fast” the scene was set for a thrilling afternoon of rugby.

Stags made all the early play and attacked deep into St Neots territory, however, on several occasions the last pass wouldn’t stick or Stags gave up easy turnovers.

Stags' powerful scrum clearly had the upper hand and from one on the visitors five meter line the pack pushed its way over allowing Wade Schoemann to complete the formalities from number eight. The conversion was missed but Stags were up and running.

In a moment that surely will not make his self-made highlights real, former Stag Tom Davies-Prat fumbled a high ball which allowed Stags to mount another attack. From a scrum win against the head, Schoemann broke from the base and this time fed Jack Skidmore who went in to score Stags second. Rose was successful with the conversion.

 Captain Bradley was forced from the field with an injury which allowed Harv Hutchins onto the field for his second Stags appearance. In a memorable afternoon for him he was rewarded for a big defensive shift with a try from another dominant scrum. Rose missed the conversion but Stags headed to oranges with a healthy 17-0 lead.

Turning into the wind the hosts knew they would need to dig deep, as the third in the league side were unlikely to lie down. The bonus point fourth try was sewn up early on though when Schoemann smashed through some would be tacklers to score a fine solo try. Rose kicked the extras.

St Neots saw their left winger get a 10-minute breather for a high tackle, however Stags fullback JJ Ward using all his policing experience took the law into his own hands and retaliated which also saw him go the sin bin at the same time.

Stags put the game beyond doubt when a chip kick through from second row Jack Adkins was picked up by Nathan Gibson to score in the corner – his first senior try.

The final play of the game saw Barnie West score what will surely be the simplest try of his career when he dotted down a fumbled ball behind the St Neots goal line. Rose kicked the extras and the referee blew for no side and Stags were 36-0 victors.

Coach Leader was pleasantly impressed with the result, saying: “I am pleasantly impressed with the result.

“At times it wasn’t the most polished performance but we have 'niled' the third in the league side and that is a huge scalp. The defensive effort was great, to a man there was a lot of heart and belief

“It was also great to see the scrum so utterly dominant, proving that our front row clearly have the brawn to back up their brains.

“The challenge for us now is to go through the rest of the season unbeaten and secure a high finish in the league, which is a really achievable goal” concluded Leader.

Stags are next in action away at Luton. All travelling support welcome.