Midlands Division 5 East (South) St Ives Bulls 34 Stamford 10 SAINTS got their 2007/08 season off to a winning start with a convincing victory at Somersham Road. Despite the large margin of victory, Stamford took the lead when confusion reigned in the hom

Midlands Division 5 East (South)

St Ives Bulls 34 Stamford 10

SAINTS got their 2007/08 season off to a winning start with a convincing victory at Somersham Road.

Despite the large margin of victory, Stamford took the lead when confusion reigned in the home defence.

The home side struck back almost immediately when Jack Blackley chipped through for Marc Sands to run on and score.

This signalled the start of a period of excellent play from the Bulls and tries soon followed for James Cannon, David Williams and Paul Ashbridge, though Blackley did not manage to convert any of the scores.

Leading 20-5 at half-time, St Ives continued their domination but soon found themselves down to 14 men when Dan Stewart spear-tackled a Stamford forward and was dismissed.

Saints remained firm despite giving away a one-man advantage and Blackley set up Paul Ashbridge twice more with cross-field kicks to complete his hat-trick.

Saints captain Pete Hammond said: "This is a dream start to our season. We managed to put the problems of our warm-up fixtures to bed in emphatic fashion, rucking aggressively and sensibly.

"We mauled confidently and effectively with our scrum halves controlling the forwards."

* Bulls take on St Neots in a friendly on Saturday and travel to Deepings for their next league match on September 29.