Stags see red as winning run ends at Leicester Vipers

Leicester Vipers 28-8 Huntingdon Stags

STAGS captain Elliot Baldwin saw red as Huntingdon Stags' pre-Christmas form deserted them against a good Vipers outfit.

Baldwin and a Vipers forward were both given their marching orders after an unsavoury incident in which another Vipers player receive a yellow card.

After a six-week break, Stags fielded a strong team with hopes of continuing their four-match winning streak and Damien Whales kicked an early penalty to get them off to a good start.

More Stags pressure looked likely yield points until a charge-down saw Vipers break away to score under the posts, and a successful conversion followed.

Vipers, buoyed by the score, continued to put Stags under significant pressure and added another try shortly afterwards.

An intercepted pass left Stags in disarray and Vipers ran in their third try. The conversion saw the half end with the score 21-3 to Vipers.

After the break, the Stags defence stood firm, providing the base for a counter-attack capped by a fine run down the wing by Greg Southgate for an unconverted try.

For a long period both teams battled to find an advantage but from a scrum the contest took a turn with a flurry of fists. After the referee had restored order, the teams contested the remainder of the match a man down.

Vipers had the final word, pushing the Stags back to their own goal line where a series of scrums ended up with a penalty try.

Captain Baldwin said the team had suffered from being ring-rusty after the Christmas lay-off, but were looking forward to bouncing back next week at Leicester Forest.