Kettering v Olney 23rd March 2024

For the last away league fixture, Olney travelled to Kettering for what has traditionally been a tough encounter but the team was hopeful of a victory based on results from the previous few matches. In the news recently was the anniversary of the death of German philosopher Karl Marx. A notable figure from history but not many people mention his sister Onya who invented the starting pistol. Single man Plod Soman went to see a friend’s new baby a few days ago. They asked if he wanted to wind him but he thought that was a bit harsh so just gave him a dead leg.

On a blustery day where the rain threatened, Kettering kicked off with the wind at their backs and were soon in the Olney 22. A couple of phases and a couple of penalties later saw a lineout on the right hand side. A rehearsed move between the scrum half and winger created a gap for the latter to run in under the posts. Kettering took another chance well when Olney lost their own lineout on halfway with the home sides backs moving the ball to the left wing and scoring a converted try to make it 14-0 after 10 minutes. Olney settled a bit after this but still couldn’t really get their normal quick running game going due to the disruptive game plan of the Kettering forwards who stifled many potential attacks. Towards the end of the half though, Olney had a spell of sustained pressure and a quickly taken penalty by Ethan Chambers gave him the chance to beat the retreating defence for the score which was converted by Ewan Fuller and took the half time score to 14-7.

One would have expected Olney to put pressure on with the wind behind them but were guilty of failing to gather the ball from a Kettering kick in the first minute which allowed the blues to run in from their own 10m. Despite their ambition, it seemed at times Olney were just hanging in there and it came as no surprise when the Kettering pack claimed a pushover try from a scrum close to the Olney line to give them a bonus point for the afternoon. Another try followed following a catch and drive from a lineout and made the score 31-7. Olney were not finished though and despite losing Chambers for 10 minutes for a suspected late tackle they rallied well and pressed hard in the Kettering 22 and always looked like narrowing the gap in the scoreline. A couple of cynical penalties from Kettering saw them reduced to 13 players for the last part of the match and with the extra numbers, Olney capitalised with tries from Elliot Simpson and captain Eddie Goss both converted by Dave Simpson. However, time ran out for further scores and the match result at the whistle was 31-21 to Kettering.

Overall this was a good performance against tough opponents who sit just above them in the league. Lessons will be learned and small errors will be ironed out in future matches. Many thanks to Kettering for their hospitality prior to the match and congratulations on the victory. The rain held off and the few hardy travelling supporters made the short trip home. Hopefully next season more people will leave the shire and venture out to watch the team at away matches. The players really do appreciate it.

News from the Harris household is that whilst cuddling up on the sofa Mr Harris had his hand down the front of his Y-fronts and was having a good rummage about. Mrs Harris asked him to stop but he said that the doctor told him he could touch himself whenever he felt like it. Mrs Harris was then obliged to point out that what the doctor really said was that he could have a stroke at any time!