After two wins out of two to start the season we welcomed Leicester Forest to East Street with hopes of continuing our run of form to stay at the higher end of the table. The mood within the squad was one of confidence but not complacency and aim to play the Olney way to entertain the masses on the touchline. We have a question for you this week….Does anyone know if it’s possible to graft some flesh from your buttocks to donate to someone who isn’t a relative?....Arse skin for a friend.
From the kick off it was evident that both sides were intent on playing an open attacking style and it was Olney who opened the scoring doing what they have been good at so far this season. The ball travelled across the park a couple of times to stretch the defence and Cobie Chapman was the recipient of the final pass to score wide on the left. Charlie Hicks converting. They could have had more points on the board but a little indecision proved to be their downfall which video analysis will highlight prior to training in the week! Forest levelled the score when they capitalised on a midfield error to hack the ball forwards and touch down under the posts. Olney increased their lead after winning a scrum 5m out and Chapman bagged his second of the day. This spurred them on and a kick to the corner then winning the resulting lineout saw Jacob DeMain get close enough to barge his way over for a third try. A Hicks penalty took the half time score to 24-7 in Olney’s favour.
The second half carried on in much the same manner with a few errors evident from both sides. Steve said to cut down the penalty count! When Olney did get within striking range though, it was Charles Rylands who emerged from under a pile of bodies and claimed the try for a bonus point to the home side. The backs showed their attacking prowess with some slick handling shortly after which resulted in a fine try for Arthur Betteridge wide on the left. However, Forest were far from out of it and came back with a well taken try from a lineout and scored a further try when their forwards gained the upper hand and drove over wide on the right side of the posts. A good kick return and the backs on the charge again gave Betteridge the chance to attack his opposite number and he kept him guessing as he crossed for his second of the day. Yet again Forest came back and worked their way up to the Olney line and scored a bonus point try of their own following a lineout. The final say went to Olney when the ball was tuned over on halfway and a spectacular pickup by Ethan Chambers, supporting as he usually is, saw him cross the line for the score. Final result 44-24. Special mention to today’s referee who was fair and consistent all afternoon.
Another good result for the lads and keeps them at the top of the table. It will be a long season and many hard matches to come but something to be enjoyed celebrated at this early stage. Some fine individual performances today with Charlie Harris adopting his typical no-nonsense style despite having cramp from early in the game, Leonard Idiakhoa proving very difficult to stop with his strength, speed and low centre of gravity and Hector Stanbridge who had a fine game and whose father said because of this he may even let him sleep in the house tonight.
Thanks to our mini and junior section who sponsored today’s game with many of our stars of the future watching on.
We learned last week that local celebrity John Nicholls was born without eyelids. We’ve also just found out he had no ears either but they managed to transplant two pigs ears on instead. Apparently one ear is OK but he occasionally gets a bit of crackling in the other.