Snakes Rattled and Rolled

The U15s took to the road again for their second friendly fixture of the season against Leicestershire based Vipers. A gloriously sunny day and perfect playing conditions greeted both teams as they got ready to put the hard work in pre-season training into practice. Kettering were without several players due to a growing injury list, World Cup watching and a spot of fell-running....but we were also pleased to welcome back to the team Elliott Bosworth and a new face Alfie Shinson. And a special welcome back to Robbie Burrell - good to see you back in the fold !

Straight from the kick off Kettering set the scene for a day that just got better and better. Cam showed his versatility and high work rate in getting over the ball and winning good turnover ball before setting off in support of Henri from the resulting break to take a good off-load and score to the left of the posts, the try being converted by Harvey . 0-7.

One of the tries of the day soon followed as Tom took the restart and fed Chris and Jess who swapped the ball intelligently before the ball was recycled to Robbie. He delivered a smart chip behind the defence into the arms of Harvey who stormed through to score. 0-12.

Concerted pressure from Kettering forced the Vipers to kick to try and gain some territory - however Cam collected the kick and handing off the first defender then stepped through the cover and lit the blue touchpaper to cruise home for the third try - again unconverted. 0-17.

The set piece was proving a real strength for the boys in blue as their hours on the scrum machine with Steve Fraher started to pay dividends - causing the Vipers continued trouble as they worked hard in vain to gain some useful possession. It wasn't just in the tight that the forwards were showing their mettle - some excellent counter rucking near the Vipers line saw the ball turned over and a quick pass from Tasker to Hayden saw him swoop to score in the corner. 0-22.

Shortly afterwards the forwards got in on the try scoring act themselves with debutant Alfie riding a despairing tackle after a pick and go to crash over from short range. 0-27.

However the Vipers weren't going to surrender without a struggle and despite their tough start they rallied well and forced a concerted spell of pressure on the Kettering 22. It was only an unfortunate knock on in the tackle that halted their resurgence and some resolute Kettering defence saw the home team threat averted.

There was just time before the break for Henri to unleash a trademark hand off and tackle busting line break before scorching 50 metres to score to the right of the posts - again unconverted. 0-32.

HALF-TIME - VIPERS 0- KRFC 32

After some very welcome half time oranges - classy old school touch from Vipers - both teams emptied their benches and made several positional changes.

The Kettering replacements fitted seamlessly into place and straight from the kick off Harvey made a great line break, skirted the cover defence and scored a try which he converted himself. 0-39.

Good work again by the forwards saw a rolling maul break clear into the Vipers half with Jess delivering a stunning offload to Josh Owen to fly through the defence and score under the posts converted by Harvey. 0-46.

It was now blue wave after blue wave and Vipers were finding it hard to keep up with the pace and precision of the Kettering play as Josh O, Cam, Josh L, Chris and Jess all added to the try count. 0-73.

But Vipers weren't to go without reward and to their great credit they summoned up a final attack on the Kettering line, finally winning a penalty for a crooked feed at a Kettering scrum, from which they smashed through the line to score a smart try which was unconverted.

There was enough time for Kettering to regain possession and threaten the Vipers line, winning a penalty as the clock counted down and finally kicking the ball off the park to bring the curtain down on a compelling performance.

FULL TIME - VIPERS 5 - KRFC 73.

Thanks to the Vipers for their excellent hospitality, and whilst it was a tough day at the office their spirit and tenacity was plain for all to see and we look forward to meeting again in the future.

For the Golden Bacon Butty Hall of Fame fans we were delighted to sample the varied delights of the Vipers excellent kitchen before the game. A particular highlight was the aptly named Gutbuster - a massive roll containing a fried breakfast...and probably a coronary too. Taking one in the ticker for the team was the irrepressible Harvey Childs who wolfed down the monster snack in less than 5 minutes and declared it to be "delightfully stomach filling." He was probably still stunned from his trip the day before to Twickenham where I believe several Welsh people delivered a similar gutbuster to England's world cup hopes. Anyway enough about rugby - onto the bacon butty scoring. A good bap with ample bacon - fried well but could have been crispier for our sampler's tastes. Overall a good effort and scoring a creditable 6.5 out of 10 and taking second place in the Hall of Fame for the season behind the chaps at Market Harborough.

And finally a new feature for the U15s match report - Rob's Book at Bedtime . Once a month I will recommend a sports book that I think you might enjoy. My book for October is Friday Night Lights by HG (Buzz) Bissinger. Despite being about the helmeted bore fest that is American Football this is a brilliant true life story of the highs and lows of a season at Permian High School in Odessa,Texas. Everybody should read at least one book in their lives by a man called Buzz.

Until the next time......

Your Director of Connumications