Olney v Market Harborough 16th December 2023

In the last match of the year we welcomed Market Harborough to East Street who got the better of us in the previous encounter between the two sides earlier in the season. It promised to be a lively afternoon with it being the occasion of the ladies lunch and a few Christmas activities going on too. Harborough are always well followed and brought with them several of their omniscient travelling supporters. Rumour has it that some shepherds were seen wandering the town during the week but moved on as they couldn’t find three wise men or a virgin.

On a chilly and breezy afternoon during which John Nicholls was seen to be sheltering behind one of the advertising boards sucking on a Fisherman’s Friend, Olney again took to the field with a number of changes from last week. From the kick off the match was played at a high tempo with a noticeable feature being Harborough’s strong work over the ball at the breakdown. Olney were matching them blow for blow and for the first 10 minutes it was end to end stuff. It was only a matter of time before the first score though as both sides had seen attacking chances thwarted by good defence, and when Harborough created an overlap on the left, their winger took the chance to round the last man for the try. Olney hit back shortly after when a strong attack in the Harborough 22 made them concede penalties which were taken quickly to put them on the back foot and Josh Fadden took advantage to barge over. Conversion by Ewan Fuller and Olney were ahead. A similar thing happened late in the half when the quick penalties by Olney in the 22 resulted in Olney’s second try, this time it was Rob Morgan diving over in the corner. Half time score 12-5 to Olney.

The second half continued in a similar fashion with both sides showing attacking intent, Harborough’s forwards continuing their quick recycling game and Olney tackling everything that came their way. Harborough had the wind at their backs now though and made good use of it to work their way towards the Olney line. Pressure paid off and after battering their way from the 5m line for a while their right winger finally found the gap to dot down for the try. A fine conversion from wide out levelled the scores. Later, the only time Olney’s defence was caught napping was from a Harborough lineout and the full back joined the line to run in at pace from half way to put them ahead again. As ever Olney were not giving up and some fine handling and support play saw George Bennett reveal some sidestepping skills no-one had ever witnessed to weave his way through the tackles to score close to the posts. Where was his Dad to talk us through it for the rest of the night? Harborough are not near the top of the league for no reason though and as the closing stages of the match approached their fly half saw the opportunity of a drop goal and took it well to put them a point ahead. The final action to seal the victory came courtesy of a converted try by Harborough to give them the bonus point win and Olney with nothing to show from their considerable contribution to a bloody good game of rugby. Final score 19-27.

It showed today that on occasions there is not much difference between sides in this league despite the positions in the table. With Olney’s young side the future looks bright and but for a few minor errors today the result could well have been in their favour. Onwards and upwards as the saying goes and we will surely pick up points in the second half of the season.

Single man Plod Soman has a bit of an argument going on with Injury Lawyers R Us at the moment. His neighbour’s wife cut herself badly whilst climbing over his fence and they asked him to send a photo of her gash. We think the issue is yet to be resolved.

t now seems an appropriate time for this reporter to thank the person who reads these reports each week and to anyone who has been mentioned or lied about so far this season. One hopes things are taken in the spirit in which they were written and no offence was taken. Merry Christmas and a happy, peaceful and prosperous new year to one and all.