Blown Away at Lutterworth

Sunday saw the U15s travel across the M1 in a westerly direction to take on Lutterworth in a friendly arranged at short notice to give the whole squad a run out. The conditions could best be described as changeable with the gusting wind raking the pitch like the morning after a Ring of Fire meeting!

Lutterworth kicked off with the wind at their backs and settled down quicker than a Kettering team getting used to some new positional combinations. The home team forced a knock on on the Kettering 10m line and from the resulting scrum their no8 picked up and ran powerfully straight through some hesitant tackles to score under the posts - and converted his own try- 7-0.

Kettering roused themselves and put together some good passages of play - remarkable considering that the wind was making passing a lottery at times. The balance of the game continued to ebb and flow but eventually Kettering made their way against the wind into the opposition half. After several penalties against the home side a quick tap and go saw Alfie almost make his way over the line - just being held up by some determined tackles. From the resulting ruck Joe was able to pounce and score his first try for the club - well done Joe! The conditions meant that the conversion - although struck well by Robbie - just stalled in front of the posts. 7-5.

The rest of the half was spent in a flurry of errors from both teams - who were trying to play positive attacking rugby, and it was Lutterworth who almost finished on a high. After a kick and chase into the Kettering 22 the crowd were stunned by Josh - in a rare appearance at full back - putting in what can best be described as a dancefloor killer side step to avoid the chaser. Disco Josh then sent the ball flying into touch and we all breathed a sigh of relief. However Lutterworth had their tails up and Kettering did well to hold them up over the line twice before the referee signalled half-time.

The second half set a similar pattern to the first half with Kettering trying to use the wind to their advantage without any joy. Both teams continued to try and get the advantage but it was difficult to get any continuity and it seemed that the game might end without a further score. However from an opportunistic kick and chase into the Lutterworth half Kettering won an attacking 5m scrum after the ball was kicked dead by a defender. From the scrum - which again showed well throughout the game for the Blues - Chris picked up and drove strongly into the heart of the defence. He was held up but managed to offload to Robbie who scored under the posts to the delight of his team mates. He was able to add the extras to take the lead for the first time. 7-12.

They say that you are never more vulnerable than when you take the lead - and that was the case this time. Lutterworth showed great tenacity and courage to drive the ball up into the Kettering half - with powerful runners gaining hard yards and the ref penalising Kettering several times for indiscipline at the breakdown. From a penalty on our 22 the home side attacked with speed and straight running - eventually forcing their way over despite some despairing defence just to the left of the posts. The kick was converted and Lutterworth had regained the lead. 14-12.

There was still time for Kettering to launch a final attack but Lutterworth were resolute and held up play before kicking to touch as the clock ticked into the red. A narrow but very well deserved victory for Lutterworth and a rare reverse for Kettering.

Well done to both sides who were very evenly matched and did their best to master the conditions and put on a show of running rugby. Thanks to Lutterworth for your hospitality and we look forward to welcoming you at Waverley Road later in the season.

And for those of you who enjoy the Golden Butty Award - here is the news. We got off to a not too promising start - a large crowd of bacon fans gathered in the clubhouse to be met by a shuttered kitchen. However it was only hiding what can best be described as a kitchen load of cooks who were frying up a feast of porky goodness. Even better when we ordered two bacon rolls we were served three - they must have known we were coming! The buns were fresh and the bacon just the right side of crispy - we were so impressed that we went back and had two sausage rolls as well - which were equally toothsome. The only downside was the lack of dispenser pump on the massive tomato ketchup bottle - which resulted in a Texas Chainsaw Massacre style spurt of the red stuff as we tried to season our sausages. It goes without saying there was no HP sauce....a cardinal sin in my book....but not taking away from an excellent performance to score a wopping 7.5 out of 10 and put Lutterworth at the top of the Butty table so far this season.

Until the next time.....