Olney made the short trip to Towcester hoping to repeat the victory from the home fixture earlier in the season. With good numbers in support, including the ladies contingent on their annual jolly, on a pitch which was heavy but could have been worse after the recent weather, hopes were high.

Olney kicked off and were soon on the offensive. A fine run from Struan Brooks tied up one or two Tows defenders and quick recycling of the ball gave winger Noddy Deighton the chance to sprint over wide on the left to give Olney the best possible start after only 2 minutes. Tows hit back almost immediately with a penalty for offside right in front of the posts to narrow the score to 3-5. The sides were fairly evenly matched with attacks being cancelled out by good defence and kicks up field to relieve the pressure. From a lineout near halfway Olney were guilty of allowing the ball to be ripped from their grasp which then led to an attack from Tows and a try close to the posts. Again Olney hit back and a penalty from Olly Betteridge closed the gap to 2 points. Towards the latter stages of the half Towcestrians seemed to be gaining a bit of an advantage in the set piece and after winning a scrum against the put in, scored wide on the left. The lead was further enhanced when they had pressured for a while in the Olney 22 and created the overlap to score wide in the right hand corner. Olney were reduced to 14 men after Brooks was yellow carded for not retreating at a quick penalty and Tows made the extra man count just before the end of the half when driving over for their fourth try taking the half time score to 25-8.

Olney were pinned close to their line for the first five minutes of the second half but managed to clear past the 22. From the resulting lineout Tows ran direct and managed to evade the tacklers to touch down on the left. Olney then made a few changes, re-arranging the back line and bringing on Charlie Harris to the forwards. Harris had the direct approach and indeed, it was he who scored under the posts after several phases, taking the score to 30-15. Shortly after the re-start, Olney were awarded a rare penalty which was taken quickly. Sven Meiland found himself with space and committed the defence allowing Joe Brock who was in support to gallop over for the try. It was now Olney who had the upper hand and pressure on the Tows defence led to a yellow card for Tows for persistent infringements. A bit of patience eventually led to the ball arriving in the hands of debutant travelling New Zealander Lemi Masoe who passed out left for Brooks to run in for the try. As in previous games, Olney were intent on running at most opportunities and it was this that led to the next score. Unfortunately it was Tows who scored it through an interception when their centre juggled the ball and ran from deep in his own half, beating the chasing defenders for a fine try. Olney tried hard to break through and despite several good runs and more pressure towards the Tows line there were to be no more scores and Towcestrians finished victorious at 35-25.

Well done to Towcestrians who now look to be moving up the league following some good results in their previous games. Olney did salvage a bonus point to add to the tally for the season but could really do with a win or two to lift them clear of the lower end of the table. However, the supporters were not downhearted, the potential is still there, the ladies bus trip went away to carry on where they left off and we have next week to look forward to.