Kettering U16 V Olney

Following the rescheduled semi final a hastily organised match against Olney was arranged. We haven't played them for a few seasons so a bit of an unknown entity. Two 35 minute halves, heres how it played out.
First half:
KRFC a bit slow off the blocks again. Olney start with intent to attack. Lots of knock on's from both sides to start with. We compete well in the scrums & the boys are strong. Olney have a scrum on the L/H side of the pitch, ball passed across the pitch & they have an overlap, Olney score, no conversion. More scrums & more defence from Kettering, we're not really in the game yet. Lot's phases from Olney & they score, no conversion. Our line speed is a bit slow, we are standing back & letting them come to us too much. We kick off & this time the boys start to make some headway, pods are formed and we work phases up the pitch. Much more intent to play now. Some great attacking play & we off load the ball quickly, unfortunately we drop a pass just before the try line. Much better though. We turn the screw and it's all Kettering for the next 10-15 minutes, no score but Olney are feeling the pressure, they are making mistakes & giving away penalties. Olney loosing their heads shouting & screaming. Charlie Dix breaks the line, lovely off load to Ewan Clee & he's over for a try. Ben convert's from a really tough angle. Olney kick off & get the ball out wide & their winger goes over for a try, no conversion. Kettering with some great go forward, really dominating Olney again. Olney giving away penalties like sweets. We continue to attack & Toby makes a great break for the line, it's held up & thats the end of the first half.
Second Half:
Kettering carry on with the pressure & dominance, Olney do not like it & they continue to drop the ball & give away penalties. More pressure & ball to Ben Bowman who skips his way through the pink & grey to score under the posts. Ben converts, it's a one point game. A great kick from about half way, off a pink shirt & bobbles out on the 10m line, quick throw in by us & Will Louison-Wride over for the try. A 5 min delay as the Olney 8 tries to explain the laws of rugby to the ref, outcome as expected, we play on, Ben finally gets to convert the try. Olney kick off, Tye takes the ball really well & makes a superb break up the wing, he's brought down but we carry on up the pitch, penalty advantage to us, Ben chips over but it's a bit long. We come back for the penalty. Ben elects for the three points, doesn't come off but it's the right decision. We are tiring a bit which is to be expected, it's a very tough game. The forwards are having to put in a big shift. We give a couple of penalties away & let them in to score, Olney convert. A tenacious period of play & Olney on the attack & they are nearly over our line, the ball goes loose & Ben kicks it's down the pitch & almost gets to touch it down. Unfortunately Olney get to it first. Scrum 5 last play of the game. Olney pick up the ball in the scrum & kick it out to finish the game.
Olney were a good opposition & well organised, very strong through the middle. I suspect they are used to getting their own way. As soon as we put them under pressure they began to buckle & moan. Kettering played extremely well today for 60 minutes, if they had played like that for the first 10 it may have been a different outcome. The forwards had a real test today & they stood fast. We played with dignity & pride letting our rugby do the talking. As a coaching group we couldn't have happier with the way the boys played & conducted themselves today. A one point loss is hard to swallow but we come away feeling we have played a better game & hold our heads high.
Big respect to Joe Wiggins for coming to " watch" in full kit & then getting involved to play for his club before going off to play in the Saints festival in the afternoon.
Tries: Ewan Clee, Ben Bowman & Will Louison-Wride. Conversions Ben Bowman (3).