12th October 2019 - Wellingborough v Olney

Olney travelled to Wellingborough “on the hill”, the club with its own microclimate and were pleasantly surprised that conditions were good for rugby. Boro’ were holding their past players lunch so were assured of a large crowd of vocal supporters.

On the last two weeks performances Olney should have been confidant and capable of reproducing some of that form against a side that were also in the nether regions of the league. However, as is often the case, things don’t always go according to plan. After the kick off most of the play was taking place in Boro’ territory although not close enough to the line to cause any problems for their defence with Olney rarely crossing the 22. A turnover gave the home side possession and a tackle by winger Noddy Deighton prevented their winger from sprinting in for what would have been the opening score. Boro’ did get more into the game after this but a penalty shot at goal from 35m drifted left to keep the scores even after 15 minutes. First score on the board was to Boro’ when their centre took advantage of some sloppy tackling to run in under the posts, converted to give them a 7-0 lead. Olney were guilty then of making several errors such as missed touch kicks, crooked throws and more than enough handling errors to put little pressure on the Boro’ line. Cam Kok was replaced by Ollie Fearis to bring on fresh legs but it was Boro’ who scored next when, after working their way upfield, the ball was fed along the hands for a try wide on the left, converted, 14-0.

Olney did get back into the Boro’ 22 late in the half and after 2 kicks to the corner and a Boro’ forward in the bin, Olney attacked well only to see the ball knocked on when a score seemed likely. From the resulting scrum the ball was kicked dead for the final play of the first 40 minutes.
Sven Meiland replaced will Simpson at half time but Olney’s attack which was sharp last week seemed just a bit blunt and again errors led to turnovers which kept the home side in the right area of the field for them. A penalty quickly taken by the experienced Boro’ fly half saw him kick wide for the winger to cut back in and score close to the posts. Converted 21-0.

James Brock replaced Jacob DeMain in the centre as the second half progressed in much the same fashion as the first. Olney did eventually work their way towards the Boro’ line but somehow still failed to put pressure into points and allowed the home side to clear their lines. The final 10 minutes saw Olney change completely as they looked to play with a bit more pace and intensity. A scrum 5 metres out saw Ollie Betteridge receive the ball, push towards the line and offload to Lloyd Sweeney who scored close to the posts. In the hurry to restart though, the conversion was missed. Shortly after the kick off some good recycling of the ball saw Josh Meadows with space on the right. A fine run from half way shrugging off two defenders saw him score in the corner, again no conversion. Sweeney then found himself sprinting towards the try line wide on the right, only to be denied by a head high tackle which saw the offending Boro’ player seeing yellow and sitting out the final stages of the match. One could have argued that this was a possible case for a penalty try but it wasn’t to be. The whistle went for the end of the game and Olney could reflect on what might have been whereas Wellingborough could consider it a job done and walk away the happier of the two sides keeping the past players on the touchline in good spirits too.