A bright and sunny Sunday morning saw two of the strongest teams in the East Midlands line up to contest the U14 EMRU Cup at Old Scouts ground in Northampton. An excellent turn out of supporters thronged the touchlines and it was great to see coach Bill Drake- Lee back from the operating table after his recent hip op - although some 10 minutes late....what kept you Bill!? Seriously all the best for a speedy recovery!

Kettering kicked off and started well, dominating territory in the first five minutes against a well drilled Ampthill defence. Slow starts in previous games had seen Kettering struggle to assert their game plan as players took time to get into the game. Not today though - the boys in blue were definitely up for the Cup.

A dry pitch and sunny , calm conditions suited both teams who clearly had ambitions to play attractive running rugby. And it was Kettering who got on the scoreboard first with the forwards, lead by a fired up front row,moving through the phases up to the Ampthill 22 metre line. Following several unfinished scrums Kettering finally won good ball and a pick up from the base of the scrum by Chris Owen lead to good metres gained with Chis offloading to Tasker who fed Cameron Sharpe. Cameron cut back inside and beat several covering defenders to touch down to the left of the posts. Henri was unable to convert the try - pushing his kick just to the right of the posts.

Kettering 5 - Ampthill 0

From the kick-off Kettering knocked on but then after the advantage had expired did well to turnover possession and Tasker kicked long into the Ampthill 22 - eventually leading to a line out to Ampthill on their 10 metre line. Again Kettering showed their determination by stealing the line out before Ampthill fought back well to steal the ball and run out of defence. Once more Kettering showed their grit by turning over the ball in the tackle before Ed Drake-Lee kicked through smartly to turn the Ampthill defence and find touch just 5 metres out. Alex King, dominating at the front of the line out stole the throw and Tasker set the backs in attacking motion. Steady if not speedy passing saw the ball move out wide on the right to Josh Owen who showed his pace to skirt the covering defence and touch down in the right hand corner - again unconverted.

Kettering 10 - Ampthill 0

Ampthill restarted well and proved they were going to be no pushovers - winning the ball back in the tackle, after it was well claimed by Kettering. They set their backs in motion and moved the ball quickly out to the right looking to exploit the open spaces. However their move was stopped in its tracks by a crushing "Courtney Lawes" style tackle by Harvey Lewis sending his opposite number to the floor. The Ampthill player received a knock to the head after the tackle and both sides were relieved and happy to see him able to walk from the pitch after some treatment.

A series of incomplete scrums then followed with Kettering finally winning ball and making progress via Cameron Sharpe into the Ampthill 22 before knocking on. Kettering won the ball back and moved it quickly to the right - before Ampthill were pinged for straying offside. A quick tap and go from Tasker set the Blues on the charge again with Jamie Redden at the fore eventually leading to another penalty against Ampthill for going off their feet. Dom Ferreira took the ball on the charge but was repelled by solid Ampthill defending and again they showed enormous tenacity to knock Tasker back as he tried to move the ball on, However Kettering stayed calm and recycled the ball well giving Alex King the space to bash through the tackles and snake an Inspector Gadget like arm over the line for Kettering's third try - this time well converted from wide on the left by Cameron Sharpe.

Kettering 17 - Ampthill 0

Kettering claimed the kick off well but there were then several more unfinished scrums as both teams battled to win the set piece. Kettering finally won possession and set the backs on the attack only for Ampthill to be penalised again, this time for being offside in their eagerness to get up into Kettering's attacking line. However Ampthill were soon back on the attack as they swooped on a Kettering handling error to run the ball back well into the Kettering half - forcing Kettering to hold on in the tackle and winning a penalty which they drilled into the Kettering 22. Once more the Kettering line out snaffled the ball and a clearing kick sent the ball off to half-way. A scrum resulted and this time it was Henri Stiles who stepped up to showed a magical turn of pace, receiving the ball inside his own half, and then beating several defenders to run in a cracking try to the right of the posts, once more unconverted.

Kettering 22 - Ampthill 0

The last few minutes of the half were played out with Ampthill making dangerous breaks into Kettering territory. However they were penalised again for going off their feet at the breakdown and the half ended with Kettering kicking to touch.

HALF TIME

The second half started with Ampthill showing renewed vigour and determination to get back into the game - with their full back pinning Kettering back on their try line with some pinpoint accurate kicking. It was a direct reverse of the first half with Ampthill dominating territory and winning an attacking line out on the Kettering 5 metre line after Chris Owen gave up a penalty for a high tackle. This time they secured their own line out ball well and moved the ball quickly out to the right avoiding some weak tackles to score well in the right corner - the extras going unconverted despite a well struck attempt from the touchline.

Kettering 22 - Ampthill 5

From the kick off Ampthill ran back strongly and forced a Kettering penalty at the breakdown - the resulting kick then being short of touch but knocked on for a scrum to Ampthill. Things were starting to look worrying for Kettering - could they resist the Ampthill fightback? Further pressure from Ampthill saw them break cleanly into the Kettering 22 and it seemed a certain try was on the cards as their forwards mauled over the line. But just as the pressure was at its highest the Kettering defence lifted itself and did a fantastic job in halting the maul and keeping the ball from being used - giving an attacking scrum to Ampthill. The ball was won by the attacking team but handling errors under pressure from the Kettering defence gave the ball up and although Ampthill won the ball back and made a good break they were called back for an earlier knock-on. Kettering were weathering the storm.

More handling errors followed but soon Chris Owen was able to break from defence and run strongly into the opposition half - passing to Jess Clements who carried on the break before knocking on under a strong defensive tackle. Ampthill kicked clear but Cambo ran the ball back well and once again the referee penalised Ampthill - this time for not rolling away. Now Kettering were setting up camp in the Ampthill 22 and it seemed like the early pressure from the Bedforshire outfit was staring to subside. Yet there was still plenty of fight left and soon Ampthill had driven Kettering back up to half way - winning a line out as well. They hadn't counted on Alex "Gadget" King who stretched up athletically to steal the ball and set the Kettering attack back in motion. Tasker fed Cam who used Josh on the outside to run free - blasting 50 metres up the pitch and demonstrating a remarkable 50 centimeter chip and catch before the covering defenders brought him down. The resulting scrum went to Kettering and a training ground move saw Tasker unleash Cam on an inside run, dodging two defenders to touch down to the right of the sticks. This time Henri showed composure to slot the extra 2 points.

Kettering 29 - Ampthill 5

Kettering now started to empty their bench to keep up the momentum that had now swung back in their favour. But Ampthill weren't going into their shell and showed great tenacity in winning good ball and forcing an attacking line out, from a penalty, in the Kettering 22. Possession swung back and forth between the teams before Ampthill were penalised for holding on at the tackle after an excellent jackal by Cambo who got himself over the ball in text book fashion. After some back and forth kicking from both teams Kettering were awarded a penalty for a knock on in their own 22. In a formula seen many times this season Chris picked up and set his phasers to stun as he streaked into the Ampthill half. To the delight of the crowd, instead of picking a target, Chris offloaded adroitly (I have it on camera) to the ubiquitous Cam who sped up in support and cruised round the backtracking defenders to add another 5 points to the total. Henri was unable to convert.

There was no time to restart and so Kettering completed the League and Cup double - well done boys - a great season.

Thanks to Ampthill who were highly competitive in the game all the way through and forced Kettering to raise their game to a really high level. We look forward to meeting you again next season.

I barely have the energy at this point as my fingers have worn down to stumps after a typing marathon. However I will leave you with a couple of pieces of advice and a pork related comment.

1. If you only have half an hour to write a match report don't do it by watching the match back on a video that is only playing at half speed.....you will lose the will to live even if the rugby is epic.
2. Following the bap related punnery at the bar after the game - if you are a fan of double entendres I heartily recommend this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyNJD8Ewcjk

And finally the Kettering Bacon Butty Hall of Fame award for fans of greasy snack products Old Scouts rack up a very creditable 14 points - only spoiled by me losing the scoring breakdown, but then nobody will have read this far if they've got any sense so no harm done. Adios.