Olney U15s Vs Bletchley. 18 February 2007
Olney entertained Bletchley in the Semi final of the Bucks Plate. Having been defeated earlier in the season at Bletchley, Olney wanted to prove that they had improved over the last few months and wanted to gain a win.
The game started with high adrenaline and in front of a big crowd. The occasion seemed to get to some of the Bletchley players who found it difficult to control their discipline. The worst piece of foul play occurred when a Bletchley player stamped on an Olney player’s head. Unfortunately this was on the blind side of the referee. The Olney players kept their cool but again Bletchley fouled by ”wiping” players from the side of rucks illegally. This time the referee did see it and awarded a penalty. Shortly after this incident a Bletchley player knee dropped an Olney player on the ground and the referee had no choice but to use the yellow card.
Bletchley were first to cross the try line, when the winger found some space and broke down the left wing was tackled and went over in the corner, the referee declared that he had not released the ball in the tackle and awarded a penalty to Olney.
The rest of the first half was tense with neither side giving any quarter. Possession changed hands many times with neither team gaining the upper hand. At half time the score was 0 – 0.
Olney players were given sound advice and encouragement at half time. The 2nd half continued in much the same vain. The referee had to penalise Bletchley for offsides, handling the ball in rucks and killing the ball at tackle areas. Unfortunately Olney committed too many knock-ons to take advantage. But they did play the game more and more in the opponent’s half. The game was nearing the last 10 minutes and Olney were awarded a penalty within kicking distance. In such a close game it was decided to take the 3 points. This spurred Bletchley on and they attacked with new purpose and Bletchley were camped in Olney’s 22. The ball was taken over the Olney line and the ball was held up. From the resulting scrum the ball was worked to the outside centre who found a gap to score. The conversion was missed. And Bletchley now edged it 3-5 with 5 minutes to go.
The tension mounted and Olney launched another attack through the backs, resulting in Tom Dolomore running half the length of the pitch to score in the corner. Conversion missed, Olney up 8 – 5
With about 2 minutes to go Bletchley attacked through their backs and during the passing movement the ball seemed to be passed forward, causing the Olney centres to hesitate. This allowed the Bletchley player just enough time to run through and score under the posts. Conversion was successful. Bletchley lead 12 – 8
Olney now needed a 5 pointer and took play immediately back to Bletchley’s 22. Again Bletchley were penalised for killing the ball on the ground, but needing 5 points Olney had to run the penalty. They did this but the ball was held up over the line and the referee called full time.
In all it was an exciting game of rugby. The Olney players never gave up and played at 100% for the whole game. They kept their discipline and were a credit to themselves and to Olney Rugby Club.
