This week’s guest reporter: Herbert Plugg

Back on the road again with a trip up the motorway to Coventry for what could be another tricky fixture against a side who went away with a victory when visiting Olney earlier in the season. The travelling supporters were looking forward to a seat in the stand at a club with excellent facilities. We heard recently that Mr Harris wanted to treat Mrs Harris to a romantic night out and to really make an impression he splashed out £300.00 on a stretch limo. It wasn’t until nearer the date that he discovered it didn’t include the driver. Imagine spending all that money and have nothing to chauffer it!

Having been treated to some excellent hospitality prior to the match the travelling band assembled in the sunshine in the hope of being entertained and hopefully returning with a win. Ben Fett had to leave the field early on which meant a bit of reshuffling in the backs. This didn’t affect Olney too much and with the first real attack in the 22, quick hands to Mac Kitchener allowed him the room to find the try line. With Broadstreet reduced to 14 Olney made use of the overlap and give Arthur Betteridge a simple run in for a second try wide on the right. The home side were now back to full numbers they attacked through the forwards and were rewarded with their first score. A Charlie Hicks penalty increased Olney’s lead but this was reduced again when an error allowed Broadstreet to run the length of the left touchline then swing the ball over to the right wing for a second try. If the half time whistle had blown then it would have suited Olney but a flourish by the home side in the final few minutes of the half saw them score twice in succession, once through the pack and another when a big hole opened up in the centre, to give them a 24-13 lead at the break.

In the second half it seemed as if Broadstreet just had the upper hand and were most likely to score. This proved to be the case when a 5m lineout was won and the inevitable catch and drive was successful by the pack. A dropped ball in midfield was collected well by the home side’s backs who ran in under the post to extend their lead further. Olney were still not out of it though and a Joe Baker try after they had battered the line for a while drew the scores closer. Broadstreet were soon back at the other end and created space for a try wide on the right but this again was cancelled out when Henry Warren scored for Olney to add to his tally for the season. The catch and drive tactic worked for Broadstreet shortly after for another forwards try and a further score to whip up the crowd when they reached the 50 point mark put the game well out of Olney’s grasp at this stage. A fine break by powerhouse Hector Stanbridge found Warren on his shoulder who then galloped in for his second of the day closed the scores somewhat but with no further action the final score of 55-30 was not what Olney had hoped for when they set off earlier in the day.

A good effort from the Olney boys who on the day were beaten by the better side. It goes to show what we have known all season that there are no easy fixtures in this league. On a plus side, the bonus point has kept the side in fourth place with only 2 games to go and probably on course for their highest league finish.

In other news, since stopping work, single man Plod Soman has signed up to the slimming world website and they keep asking him to accept cookies. He thinks it’s some sort of trick.