On these colder days of the season, it’s interesting to observe the spectators and their little winter warmers they have on the touchline. The Dunns have their coffee, Tebs and Eddie can be relied on for a hip flask, Mr and Mrs Harris cuddling together and Plod Soman can usually be found behind an advertising board sucking on a Fisherman’s Friend. There’s always a fine selection of hats, coats and footwear on display too so if you’re a people watcher it’s often worth looking round when given the chance, you never know what you may see.

On the road again this week to the far flung reaches of Cambridgeshire. Earlier in the season Olney scored quite a few points against St Ives but knowing they are a formidable side at home nothing would be taken for granted, especially when a couple of changes were made due to players having to drop out on the morning of the match. As the sides took to the field it was clear the Ives side were well fed and probably would have the advantage in the pack. Olney were up to the task though and when Elliot Simpson snapped up a chance from an error to run in under the posts the boys in cerise were 7-0 ahead. As expected the heavier Ives side had a game plan and stuck with it throughout, thus having the bulk of the possession with Olney living off scraps and conceding more penalties than one could count (possibly not all were justified). However, Ives did make mistakes in the cold windy conditions and Olney were ready to pounce with good movement in the backs leading to scores from Harvey Dench on the right and Struan Brooks finishing off a run from deep to score under the posts. Nothing else exciting occurred in the first half but Olney were 19-0 ahead.

In the second half Olney were playing up the slope and against the wind and still having very little of the ball. Things were made a little more difficult when Dench saw yellow for a tackle the referee didn’t like too much and gave a penalty 5m out. Predictably, the pushover try gave Ives their first points. Cobie Chapman also caught the ref’s attention in the lineout and he too saw yellow soon after. Olney still tried to run the ball but in the conditions, too many inaccurate passes meant this didn’t pay off as it has done in previous matches. With the penalty count now going off the scale, Ives camped on the Olney line for a while and it came as no surprise when they eventually came away with a penalty try and Jim Osborn picked on as the third yellow card of the afternoon. Nothing else exciting happened in the latter stages of this half either and the final score was 19-14 to Olney. A good defensive display with players putting in some very effective hits against some strong running opposition. The many travelling supporters who witnessed the spectacle agreed that it had been a frustrating game for many reasons but were pleased with the win if nothing else. Looking on the bright side…..at least it wasn’t raining!

Last week when eating his Sunday lunch, Mr Harris was somewhat intrigued when finding several curly hairs in his food. He asked politely why this was to Mrs Harris and she pointed out that he did actually ask for roast beef with all the trimmings!