A one-off Christmas report today at the request of a few old folk. A bright afternoon saw the arrival of league leaders Market Harborough who brought with them the usual large players, a coaching squad too numerous to count, their men in blazers, several supporters and a small but very noisy dog. Could prove to be a tough afternoon on the pitch. In local news we’ve heard that our favourite single man has changed the profile on his dating site saying he now identifies as a microwave meal….finished in two minutes and looks nothing like his picture.

Our much-loved referee (he keeps coming back) set the game under way and Onley got off to a lively start but found it difficult to get out of their own half and indeed Harborough were first on the scoreboard when their fly-half broke down the right to score wide out. Some fine passages of play got the home side to within striking distance and when Rob Morgan picked off the base of a scrum the ball whizzed along the backs to Henry Warren who scampered over for an excellent try. Charlie Hicks with the conversion. More good attacking rugby by Olney could have resulted in further scores but for a few errors at crucial moments.

Harborough had a spell camped on the Olney line but resolute defence kept them at bay and the pack forced a deserved penalty to enable them to clear the lines. Olney’s willingness to run the ball provided some entertaining rugby but a handling mistake allowed Harborough to run from deep and finally barge over from close range just prior to half time and take the score at the break to 7-10.

The second half continued in much the same manner with Harborough using their weight and power advantage to good effect. An attacking scrum early on gave them the first score of the half shortly followed by another when a cross kick was collected wide on the right to give them a bonus point for the afternoon. As one may expect from Olney’s young side though, they were not going to roll over and closed the scoreline when Hicks spotted a gap and sniped over from close range. A lost lineout close to the line gave Harborough the chance to score under the posts then probably put the game out of reach when a scrum 5m out was driven for the number 8 to pick up and dive over. More enterprising play by Olney late in the match saw Morgan finish off a splendid move with a deserved try of his own. Olney held out well in defence but no further scores left the final score at 19-36.

Some fine individual performances which we don’t normally single out when the whole team played well but Stanners put in his usual shift, Leonard made good ground with some impressive running and Denchy was a handful for the Harborough defence most of the afternoon. More good things to come in the second half of the season in 2026, no doubt.

It’s been observed that some club members have been spotted with more hair on their top lip than usual. Apparently this is so they can look more like the club legend that is Steve Howsen who is holding a lookalike competition some time in April (come on ladies, you know you want to!) This reporter was approached by Chunk Chandler who wanted a mention in the match report. When asked why he became confused so we led him back to the others in the corner known as God’s waiting room where he dribbled into his pint of whatever he’s allowed to drink nowadays.

All that remains is to wish everyone a very happy Christmas and a prosperous New Year, and remember………No-one ever died from being offended.

Some pics of the match here