A cold and blustery day saw the U14s travel across the county to Northampton to play local rivals ON's in the EMRU U14 Premiership. Fears of an overnight freeze were unfounded and the underfoot conditions were firm and dry after recent snow - all credit to the groundsman.

ONs kicked off high into the wind and Kettering were slow to claim the ball - allowing it to bounce before eventually claiming possession, hopefully not a sign of a slow start! Both sides contested possession keenly at the breakdown in the first few minutes with Kettering just having the edge in the set piece and a couple of early runs by Jess ,Chris and Richard making inroads into home territory. The chilly conditions were taking their toll though and despite some good possession Kettering were making one or two unforced errors trying to offload in contact when holding on and recycling would have been a better option.

After 10 minutes the deadlock was broken when Kettering ran a penalty , given against ON's for holding onto the ball on the ground near the home 10 metre line. Dom made a good tackle busting 25 metre break before being hauled down by some solid tackling. The ball was moved well through the phases right up to the ON's line with Dan and Louis prominent. Chris reacted well picking up and driving over the line to the right of the posts to score a try that some good possession and territory had merited. Henri converted well from a tight angle with a considerable tail wind.

ON's 0 - KRFC 7

ON's now came back into the game strongly and were moving the ball well through their back line - causing Kettering's defence to be on its toes, eventually halting a strong home attack on their 5m line. Kettering worked hard at the breakdown with Alex doing well to force his opposite number to hold on too long on the floor giving Kettering a penalty to relieve the growing ON pressure. However ON's soon had the ball back and continued to press hard for an opening.

The rest of the half was played out with Kettering starting to regain the momentum as the forwards won better ball and setting the backs onto the front foot. It was only a resounding tackle by the ON's full back that stopped Henri breaking through after a mazy run into the ON's half. More errors and knock ons from both teams were the story of the last five minutes before the ref blew to send the teams into their half-time huddles separated by a narrow 7 point margin.

HT - OLD NORTHAMPTONIANS RFC 0 - KETTERING RFC 7

Kettering kicked off into the wind and reclaimed possession to rumble up to the ON's 22. However indiscipline at the breakdown gave ON's a penalty which they kicked smartly downfield into space - chasing and harrying Cam and eventually forcing the ball into touch on the Kettering 22. The ON's back line were now coming to life and made several dangerous breaks putting mounting stress on the defence of Kettering and asking question after question of the boys in blue's tackling commitment. Finally Kettering cleared their 22 with the ball in hand and Josh flew into space, beating his man before being bounced into touch. Kettering lost the resulting line out in windy conditions but Jamie showed great tenacity to rip the ball and reclaim possession.

The game was now developing into a mighty arm wrestle with ONs gradually upping the tempo and the pressure on the Kettering line. Some great defensive tackles were required and Cam showed his mettle as did the whole team in stopping attack after attack . Kettering were still able to use the ball well when they eventually won it back - with Harvey and Chris showing good vision to break into space. However the ON's pressure was soon to pay dividends as they won an attacking scrum under Kettering's posts after the ball was hacked through following a clearing kick from Kettering that was held up in the wind. ON's won the scrum powerfully and ran some great lines with width and pace to force their way past a tiring defence in the left hand corner. Despite a great kicking effort the try went unconverted. ON's 5 - KETTERING 7.

ON's now had their tails up and quickly gained territory into the Kettering half where despite some desperate cover tackling it seemed a further score could soon be on the way. With the clock ticking Kettering managed a clearing kick from their 22 which the ON's knocked on - however the ref had spotted an earlier offence and awarded a penalty to ON's. The ON's kicker was coolness personified and stepped up to claim the 3 points and seemingly snatch a late victory which their second half attacking intent would have merited.

ON's 8 - KETTERING 7

Just seconds remained in the game as Kettering kicked off and ON's gathered possession well. Kettering committed men to the breakdown on the 10 metre line in a last desperate effort to win the ball back but were penalised for using their hands on the floor.The ON's fly half stepped up to send the penalty kick long down field but was unable to find touch - with Cam taking a fine catch on his 22 under a swirling ball. This looked like the last play of the game as Cam set off skilfully past the first two kick-chasing defenders. Harvey was quickly on his shoulder and received a well timed pass to put him into space on the half-way line. Picking up speed rapidly he found the gap between two defenders - breaking the first of several despairing tackles. He fixed the last defender, then with a great side step he cut inside to break clear - with ON's scrambling bravely to bring him down he pinned his ears back and headed for the try line. Time seemed to stop for an instant ( at least from the touchline) but with a dive he made the touch line to score! Henri stepped up to slot the extra two points into the wind and the ref blew for full time.

FULL TIME - OLD NORTHAMPTONIANS RFC U14 XV - 8 KETTERING RFC U14 XV 14

A desperately close contest between two committed and skillful teams - just snatched at the death by a moment of great individual skill. Both sets of players can take credit for showing the courage to run the ball from deep - even on such a cold day when caution might have dictated a safety first kick and chase territory game.

Thanks to ONs for your hospitality and best of luck for the rest of the season.

Kettering Man of the Match - HARVEY LEWIS - Striking up a fine partnership with Henri and always dangerous with the ball in hand. A moment to remember at the end of the game as he shredded the ON's defence to snatch a last gasp try from distance - a great and thrilling combination of vision, pace and will to win. Bravo.

And finally the moment all bacon fans have been waiting for - the KRFC Golden Butty Award.

If you need reminding - a crack team of bacon butty boys are assessing the offerings of our hosts as we tour the barren wastes, and Northamptonshire, in search of the ultimate pork related offering. The best club at the end of the season gets the coveted award...like the Oscars really, but with a curly tail and brown sauce...or tomato sauce, or no sauce....anyway, I digress, on with the scores.

BAP - 4 out of 5. Fresh and perky , baptastic.
BACON - 3 out of 5 . Well cooked , very generously served with 3 rashers (yes sadly I counted them!), but an unfortunate piece of yellow tissue (paper - NOT human ) attached.
EXTRAS - Sausages offered , which was nice, though memorably described by one of our top pork product experts as " somewhat flaccid." Ahem. And you know my views on HP sauce by now - sadly it was not available at ONs. Though very thoughtful provision of cup lids for those of us unable to walk and carry hot beverages without scalding ourselves horribly. 3 out of 5.
CLUBHOUSE AMBIENCE - Apart from a Bond villain style secret launch pad ( I assume there isn't one?)this one has the lot, with a whopping balcony thoughtfully provided for the days when the temperature is less arctic and you want a long walk without going to ground level. Luxury. 5 out of 5.

GRAND TOTAL - A commendable 15 out of 20 sends ONs straight to the top of the Golden Butty Hall of Fame - Chapeau!

Tune in to the next away match report for more news of our hunt for bacon butty excellence. And some stuff about rugby too. Adios.