St Ives kickstarted their season with a 19-7 win over Oakham, with great defensive work laying the foundations for victory.

The constant northerly wind was an issue for both sides in a very stop-start first quarter, during which Ives weathered a sustained period of pressure.

They had a let-off as the only line break by Oakham saw them brought back for a forward pass just as the centre thought he had scored.

The pattern of the game was set as strong Ives defence across the park repelled multiple attacks, with the back row of Tom Woodrow, Michael Sykes and Matt Wood very busy.

The Bulls’ pack began to assert their dominance and great work up front from a lineout with thrusts by Josh Dear and Sykes put Oakham on the back foot.

The ball was spread wide to Alex Henly who stepped back against the covering defence to dart through and score, with Charlie Mandley converting.

The visitors went back on the attack, but could find no way through, and the second half saw Ives start much better and put together some good passages of play.

The Oakham defence held firm for a long period as stand-off Mitch Newman started to orchestrate attacks with Paul Ashbridge and Alex Henly making line breaks.

From one perfectly timed pass, Henly ran a superb line and sprinted half the length of the pitch to score his and the team’s second try, which was unconverted.

Oakham picked up their game and again put Ives under pressure, with some great defence on their own line.

Albiee Tayedzerwa, who was added to the bench at the last hour, relieved some pressure with typical jinking running and, as Oakham fell back expecting a kick, Ashbridge again took the chance to break the line.

A sweeping move from one goal line to the other saw the ball recycled and pass through a dozen pair of hands before finally reaching the returning George Peacock to score in the corner.

Mitch Newman added a stunning conversion from the touchline to make it 19-0, but Oakham did not give up despite suffering a series of injuries and gained a consolation score with time running out.

Head coach Paul Humphreys said: "The effort and intensity our defence showed set the foundations for the win. The lads will have sore shoulders on Sunday that’s for sure.

"It’s fair to say we left a bit on the pitch in terms of points, having created a number of opportunities we were unable to convert. The boys know this and I am sure we won’t will improve next time.

"It was pleasing that having put ourselves in a good position at half time, we were able to push on and take the win. Credit to Oakham they gave us a tough game and we could never shake them off. Notable mentions for Michael Sykes, George Peacock, Matt Wood alongside man of the match Paul Ashbridge, who all had great games.”

A mixture of old and new players turned out as the seconds lost 48-26 at Ely.

George Davison scored two tries, with Ben Peach and man-of-the-match Sam Vivers also touching down and Matt Millar converting three of them.