Olney good run comes to an end against Old Laurentians

Report by Jim Ford

OLNEY vs. OLD LAURENTIANS 03. 02. 2018
Olney welcomed Old L's. to the Rec. on Saturday , on a damp and very cold afternoon. Old L's kicked off and were soon on the offensive, gaining a scrum on Olney's '22' for a knock on. The tables were turned when the home side had the put in at a scrum for a knock on, probably the outcome of 'cold hands'. Following a line out for the home side their pack attempted to drive the maul but lost possession and the visitors attacked and scored a try in the corner. Troy Owen made the touchdown, no conversion, giving the visitors a 0 - 5 lead after 5 mins.
From the restart, play was mainly contained in the area between the two 22m.lines. Olney were awarded a number of penalties but were unable to engage their backs, not getting good ball from the ensuing line outs. When the three's did get good ball they were penalised for 'crossing'. Time was largely taken up by a contest between the two packs of forwards, not entertaining but it kept them warm. To their credit the defence on both sides was good.
Old L's made a substitution losing a player through injury. Followed by the temporary loss of their scrum half, 'yellow carded'. The pattern of play, scrums, penalties and lines out, continued to consume the first half. Olney made a change of players Peter T.G. coming off the bench to replace Cam Kok in the pack.

HALF TIME: OLNEY 0. OLD LAURENTIANS 5.

Olney kicked off for the second half, and followed up to take play into the visitor's '22'. The home side lost possession, another knock on in the backs, but they reclaimed the ball when Old L,s were penalised for offside. Olney were denied the services of George Stanton, knee injury, Cam Kok returning to replace him.
Olney were making better use of their backs and Marcus Goss on the wing , with Lloyd Sweeney at '15' made inroads into the visitor's territory. They also had opportunities when awarded penalties, within range, but preferred the scrummage or line out options instead of a kick at goal. They made a change in the three's Matt Shotton coming on for Dave Smith, and Lewis Foster replacing Jake Deighton at '9'.
The Olney defence had plenty to do but survived until 25 mins. into the half when the visitor's scrum half scored from a forwards attack. The try was not converted, extending their lead to 0 - 10.
Olney kicked off to restart and had a period of play camped in the visitor's '22'. They did everything but score. On the other hand, frustration must have been creeping in, when awarded a scrum the referee was inclined to reverse the decision to a penalty in Old L's favour. They kicked long for a line out 5m. from the home goal line. The visitor's attempted to drive from the lineout and the referee penalised Olney, despatching their number 8 with a yellow card. Before the visitor's could decide on their options the ref. yellow carded Olney's '6'. This resulted in the depleted Olney defence conceding another, unconverted try to Dom Hammond.
The referee whistled for the end of the game.

A difficult one to take given the positive performances over the last four games but with a rest weekend coming up there are plenty of games ahead to look forward to.

FULL TIME: OLNEY 0. OLD LAURENTIANS 15

TEAM: Graham Smith, Jim Osborn (capt.), Jeremiah Shields, George Stanton, Cameron Kok
Isaac Shields, Gareth Cahill, Adrian Teckoe.
Jake Deighton, Jordan Letts.
Marcus Goss, David Smith, Hamish Bull, Rob Matthews, Lloyd Sweeney
SUBS: Peter T.G., Matt Shotton, Lewis Foster.

TEAM SPONSOR: DESMOND J. SMAIL LTD.