Our quarter final match in the plate was switched from Brackley to a home fixture. Officially an away game we wore away shirts. A match squad had to be selected as per the guidelines. Going good to firm but very sticky mud. 2 x 25 mins & here's how it played out:
First half:
Brackley start & we attack with immediate effect making good metres up the pitch. First knock on & a scrum in brackley's half. Brackley clear their lines but it's gathered well by Kettering. A couple of good passes out to the wing & Oran is over for the try, no conversion. Brackley re-start & make a good attack, knock on & a scrum. Brackley win a scum penalty & continue to attack. Kettering turn the ball over. We are looking dominant in the scrum & break down. Some good hands & the ball going through the backs hands to Ben, great side stepping & he scores, no conversion. Kettering making a good break from the re-start. Brackley defending hard but our forwards are going through the phases & sucking in the defence, ball out wide but Brackley stopping the attack, ball back inside & being popped off the ground to keep it alive. Forwards re-cycle & Max bursts over the line to score, Fraser converts. A knock on from the restart but Kettering really dominant in the scrum, ball out to Freddie at 10 who chips over the top, Brackley touch it down first but great to see the play being mixed up. Scrum 5 & we win the scrum, Freddie with some great moves & skips through for a try, no conversion. Kettering attack again, Freddie goes for the chip over the top & Oran reads it brilliantly & goes over for a try, no conversion. End of the first half
Second Half:
Kettering on the attack again & we are camped out on Brackley's 5m line for a good five minutes. Some superb defending from them. Kettering applying the pressure, the forwards going in for wave after wave. Brackley turn the ball over & kick to clear but not far enough, Oran gathers & ball out to Fraser who goes over for the try, Fraser converts. Kettering playing with great flow now. Some superb line breaks from most of them, notably Will H, Charlie & Joe. The forward really sucking in the defence, keeping the ball alive & then shipping it out wide, a thing of beauty. Ball out to Alex on the wing & he's over for a try, no conversion. Kettering attacking again from the restart. Scrum in Brackley's half, good dominance in the scrum, ball out, Shea makes a good line break & off loads, the backs making a great run & the off loading game is fantastic today. Ball just goes out on the 5m but a superb team effort. Brackley knock on at the line out, Kettering secure the ball, Charlie at 8 picks & goes for a great try. Great spacial awareness from Charlie to identify the gap, no conversion. Brackley re-start, ball out to Freddie who sprints & steps his way through to score, Fraser converts. The forwards are dominant at securing the ball & the backs are attacking & we are moving the ball from one side to other, great hands considering the conditions, Ben goes over for a try, Fraser converts.
Fair play to Brackley they never gave up & put up some great defence. The most encouraging thing today was to see a real whole team performance, they kept the ball alive & kept moving it which made defending against us really difficult. We saw plenty off popping the ball off the ground & good hands considering the conditions. We saw some great set plays in the forwards & backs. We have been practicing all of these things in the training sessions so to see the boys use them in the game to good effect was superb. Well done everyone!
Tries: Oran 2, Ben 2, Max 1, Freddie2, Fraser 1, Alex 1 & Charlie 1 Conversions: Fraser 4