26th October 2019 - Lutterworth vs Olney

Olney made the trip to Lutterworth on a cold wet afternoon but in high spirits as most players had seen England beat New Zealand earlier and were hoping to emulate that performance. Despite the weather the pitch was in superb condition and was testament to the money spent on it in previous seasons.

Lutterworth started the first half with the wind and rain in their favour and were soon on the offensive, resulting in a penalty for offside on 5 minutes. Kicker for the day, Sam Read, duly added the three points. Shortly after this an attack down the left was recycled quickly and centre Joe Benjamin found himself with just enough room to sprint over for the first try of the game, converted, to take the home side 10-0 up after 10 minutes. Olney quickly got back into the match, however, and sustained pressure from forwards and backs alike in the Lutterworth half resulted in one or two infringements. When one of these was within kicking distance Jordan Marshall added the points to put Olney on the scoreboard.
Clearly the Lutterworth plan was to pin the Olney side into the corners and as the Olney pack seemed to be retreating at times it gave their number 8 several chances to pick up and attack, particularly down the left flank. He met his match with Struan Brooks stopping him each time though and that tactic had to change. A pick up from the base at a 5m scrum and a pass to scrum half Charlie Neal paid off as he was able to evade the tackles to score wide on the left. Olney were still in the game though but for all their efforts could not add to the score before the half time whistle went with the score at 15-3.

Olney started the second half well with some promising attacks but the Lutterworth defence was equal to this and eventually managed to work their way back up the park where they were awarded a penalty. The backchat was not necessary but the resulting 10 extra yards made the kick at the posts easier with another 3 points to the home side. Olney made changes, using their replacements to try and alter the way the game seemed to be heading. The fresh legs had the desired effect and they were soon on the attack. This was suddenly interrupted when a loose pass was intercepted by Lutterworth fly half Luke Ball who looked very old, but ran like a youngster from his own 22 to score under the posts. Lutterworth then made changes themselves, which was a blessing as their replacement second row, who had been talking everyone to death all afternoon, took to the field to expend some energy elsewhere. Hopefully he met up with Graham after the game and they could discuss the finer points of forward play together! Lutterworth were looking for their bonus point and Olney were fighting to prevent this, but in the final stages of what was a more even contest than the score suggests another loose pass saw the last try of the game to the home side resulting in a final score of 32-3.

Olney can pick out the good points from this match and move forward though as the players continue to give their all and are gaining valuable experience at this level despite some of the results not going according to plan.
Many thanks to the Lutterworth club for their usual generous hospitality as the small band of travelling supporters were met with a mountain of rolls and sandwiches and some of the finest pork pie west of Melton Mowbray.