Kettering U14s welcomed Peterborough for the 2nd round of the East Midlands Cup. Peterborough arrived with good numbers and some huge lads. The Blues expected a tough battle up front but would the gale force cross wind and very slippery conditions underfoot hamper our back line's attacking credentials?

It was clear from the initial exchanges that Peterborough were up for it , competing very well at the break down and putting in a very committed tackling display. Peterborough made a lot of metres in the first 5 minutes using their big forwards to batter the Blues up front. Our defence was holding but the visitors recycled the ball well and put together a number of phases. Kettering finally managed to turn over the ball and aided by the wind put Peterborough back in their own half with a huge kick by Tommy Sims.

Despite Peterborough's huge size, Kettering towered in the line outs giving the Blues a platform to get the backs moving. But with such a strong wind together with the wet muddy pitch, this was proving difficult for the Blues.

Further breakdowns were contested well by both sides with yet more great tackling by all. The Blues eventually broke free from a ruck and Henri Codling powered his way through the covering tackles to open the score 5-0. Conversion missed.

Kettering had the upper hand but this was going to be no walk in the park, we needed to stay focused and would Peterborough's commitment last for the full 50 minutes?

The visitors where still attempting to smash their way through the Blues up front, but the Blues were in no mood to let these tactics work and started to look more lively and turned over a number of balls to get the backs moving, who had now adapted to the conditions and looked very dangerous.

The ball found James Smith on the wing a number of times who danced his way through numerous tackles before Joe Steele got the ball with space to run at Peterborough, who could not cope with his pace as he powered over the line and put Kettering 10-0 up. Conversion narrowly missed.

Within moments of the restart Kettering's pace and offloading game tore through Peterborough who perhaps were starting to look a bit tired to send Joe Steele in for a 15-0 lead.

The visitors responded well chasing their kick deep into the Kettering half but conceded a scrum on our 22. Peterborough had scrummaged well so far and again put the Blues under pressure, but the ball soon found our backs who drew the cover defence well, offloaded, looped and sent James Waters down the touch line at full speed. The full back had it covered but with Lucas in support a 2 on one put Lucas over in a wonderful backs try from the top draw! A successful conversion from Tommy Sims put Kettering 22-0 up at half time.

Life became just a little easier for the Blues in the second half as we proved to be the fitter side. Cale Clements made meter after metre with numerous runs from full back, spinning and side-stepping his way through countless tackles to put Kettering in command at 27-0. Conversion missed.

A hat trick for Joe Steele who again found the ball in broken play smashed his way through several tacklers. Kettering 32-0.

With an eye on upcoming games, Kettering brought on a number of replacements with 15 minutes to play.

The Blues however continued to keep the upper hand with some fine attacking lines being run by Lucas who made a superb break from on our 22 and was unlucky not to score being desperately tackled by the Peterborough full back who then promptly gave away a penalty.

Big Ollie Payne stepped up and charged for the line with most of the defending pack holding on to him. Ollie crossed the line and must have got the ball down but was deemed to have been held up.

The Blues won the resulting scrum and Tom Church darted for the line only to be held 2 meters out, the Blues however kept calm , recycled the Ball and Ollie Roberts crashed over for a 37-0 lead.

With the time running, Peterborough would not relent. Again they sent huge runners at the Blues who had to put in the big tackles, not least Zak Briggs who brought down an express train at full speed.

The Blues still had one last trick to show as they unleashed Theo in space on the wing, whose speed just left all standing. The Full back did very well to get across and bring him down, but a subsequent ruck saw Henri pick up a loose ball and sprint through the gap to score under the posts. Converted by Tom Lane. Final Score 44-0.

The scoreboard showed a conformable win, but it was anything but. Peterborough proved to be very strong in defence and it took the Blues a long time to break them down.

We now face Huntingdon at home on January 3rd in the quarter final.

TXM player of the week was awarded to Lucas Bonsu who is just getting better and better in the centre. Lucas not only played some wonderful attacking rugby today but also put in some huge tackles.