Kettering cruise through to Cup Semi-Final

The relentlessly stormy winds finally calmed down on a wintery but bright Sunday morning as we welcomed Long Buckby to Waverley Road for the EMRU Cup Quarter Final. Both teams and supporters observed a minutes silence before kick-off in honour of Wayne Shearsmith who will be sadly missed by all at the club.

Kettering started brightly into the wind and put together two strong attacks that were held up well by Long Buckby. Disappointingly we were unable to retain possession as the away team contested the breakdown very effectively and won good turnover ball on both occasions. Hopefully this wasn't going to be a day when we struggled to put good possession into controlled and effective progress to the try line.

After 5 minutes a defensive clearance from Long Buckby was fielded well by Henri on the half way line. He took advantage of a broken defensive line to cut inside then outside the full back - demonstrating an impressive change of pace before rounding the cover tacklers to score in the left corner. Robbie was unable to convert. 5-0.

Any thoughts of further progress were soon halted as Long Buckby mounted a strong attack, moving the ball well to set up a ruck on the Kettering 22. Our defence drifted over to cover but neglected to fill the gap on the opposite side of the pitch. The away team saw their opportunity and reacted well to send quick ball out wide for a comparatively easy finish in the left corner. 5-5.

Kettering responded well to the set back and moved the ball effectively through several short phases before gaining some width. However the Long Buckby defence held up well and eventually took advantage of an isolated ball carrier near their line to jackal over the ball and force a penalty for holding on. Kettering attacked again and once more turned over possession in the teeth of some excellent defence with an eventual clearing kick to touch relieving the pressure on the away try line.

Soon the Kettering pressure started to tell and with increasing possession we soon got on the front foot. A good line out steal by Alex was sent down the line where a training ground move between Tasker and Robbie saw the backs gain an overlap fro Josh to run in on the left corner.10-5.

The momentum was now shifting and from the kick off Cam took a swirling ball well and set Chris off on a great 50m charge into opposition territory. He was held up eventually but offloaded well and Jamie Redden was on the spot to accelerate into a gap in the retreating defence to score under the posts - this time converted by Henri. 17-5.

There was a hold up as Josh took an accidental whack which sent him reeling - however after treatment he was able to leave the pitch on foot. From the restart there was still time for Kettering to set up an attacking scrum. Chris picked up at the back and fed Tasker who worked the ball out to Henri at pace. He used his fearsome hand off to win some space then repeated his sidestep of the fullbakc to race through and score again. 22-5 HALF-TIME.

From the kick off Kettering kept up the momentum admirably and made life tough for Long Buckby with some powerful running and support play. Cam used space on the wing to work his way up to the away side's 22 before being tackled into touch. From the line out Tom stole an overthrow and the forwards now took their turn to rumble a rolling maul over the try line with Josh Hewitt coming up smiling having scored under a pile of bodies. 27-5.

The next try followed soon after as Kettering now came into their own and started to put together some of the best rugby of the season so far. Using the conditions Ed kicked through for Henri to chase and gather before sending Haydn in to score in the right corner. 32-5. Long Buckby were still giving it their all but Kettering's play at the breakdown and in the loose was now becoming irresistible. This time Josh stole the ball in the tackle after a Long Buckby scrum win before the backs switched play quickly to the right with Harvey Lewis showing great strength and determination to break two tackles on his way to score in the right corner.37-5. Kettering were now showing good decision making as Ed exploited an outnumbered defence to use turnover ball to quickly shift the ball to the left. He ran round his backs to get the ball back as the extra wide man and run in a try in the left corner. 42-5.

Next up was probably the try of the day. Ed spotted Josh on the far left touchline and sent over an inch perfect cross kick. It was a tough ball to take but Josh showed great composure to take a running catch and dot down in the corner. 47-5. There was still time for Kettering to score a final try. This time Henri powered his way through the gain line before Harvey Lewis cut in on a great line to catch the defence flat footed and cross the line for a try on the right. Once more the try went unconverted as Tasker took over kicking duties and shanked his kick along the 22 just like this correspondent's usual effort on the first tee. Fortunately for Kettering the kicking didn't make any material difference to an excellent all round display. FULL TIME - 52-5.

Thanks to Long Buckby for providing determined and well organised opposition - you kept up a spirited and purposeful display despite the scoreboard and never let your heads drop.

Until the next time.....D of C