Hello and welcome and by the time you read this we will have had our first game on Doff’s Field for 2026/27. New season, new coaching set up, several new faces on the pitch and lots of new happenings in the club in general. What a relief, you may think, to have the same old drivel which passes itself off as a match report. We’ll carry on from last season for the time being until someone steps up to take over (please!) so expect made up names, false accounts somewhat related to events on and off the pitch and more facts about prominent members of the club. If you think you may not like or approve of these words of wisdom then don’t read them.

For those who are more visual learners, here's the match in picture form - https://www.olneyrfc.co.uk/photos/20260926--1st-xv-vs-old-coventrians-h-1179177.html

On a rock hard pitch and in bright sunshine the two sides looked evenly matched in size, which is unusual as Olney traditionally have not had a big side, but some new faces in the squad seem to have boosted the average height and weight. Olney put the first points on the board when good rugby through the phases saw Arthur Betteridge score in the right corner. After the usual quota of penalties, captain Ewan Fuller slotted over a kick from 30m. Towards the end of the half Coventrians worked their way to the Olney 22 and a catch and drive routine gave their forwards the chance to drop over for their first score. Shortly after this a 5m scrum for Olney was won effectively to see the ball shipped wide to Henry Warren who duly crossed the line to increase the lead to 15-5 at half time. If Olney could learn anything from this half it would be to realise they are better at times with the ball in hand rather than possibly kicking away valuable possession.

After not securing the kick off, Olney gave the impetus to Coventrians who transferred it neatly along the line for their winger to score wide out. 15-10. Olney were not having things their own way but always looked capable of doing something spectacular. This happened when Arthur found himself in space and took off with purpose to then cut inside to score under the posts. This appeared to give the home side the confidence they needed to really open things up and following a kick return, the backs were at it again with Rafe Witheat joining from full back to finish a fine move and give Olney a bonus point for the day. Directly from the kick off prop Leonard Idiakhoa showed off some silky skills and footwork, beating four or five players before delivering a sublime offload to Arthur who scampered over for his third of the afternoon. The floodgates were now open and the open spaces appeared bigger so it came as no surprise when Olney scored again with Arthur coming off his wing adding to his impressive tally. Someone would have been proud of him today. Once again Olney attacked directly from the kick off and after the ball had passed through several pairs of hands it was Rafe who finished with his second of the day. After a bit of a scuffle, of which the Marquis of Queensbury would have been acutely embarrassed, the referee decided Olney should see out the rest of the match with 13 players by issuing both a red and a yellow card. However this didn’t hamper their progress though and after a 5m scrum the ball was shipped wide to Henry to add to the total score. The final action from the restart saw Harry Bennett charging up field like a rampant stag with a neat pass to Will Brock in support who finished under the posts. Converted again by Ewan who had a good day with the boot taking the final score to 62-10.

A good day to watch some entertaining rugby and some good individual performances from a young side. We won’t single them out but the coaches will surely give them the praise they deserve and reward them with selection in the first team for the future

In the news we heard that the actor who played Star Trek’s Captain Kirk has abandoned his plans for a UK based lingerie business as he had to come up with a better name than Shatner Pants. Finally, the legend that is Steve Howson has been putting his summer to good use by teaming up with his old mate Chunk Chandler and cycled the coast of Zimbabwe.

This week’s guest reporter: Buster Cherry