OC's 17 - 7 Old Oundelians

On a day of hugely anticipated rugby clashes, few could have been more eagerly awaited than a return of the OCs' original fixture back in 2002. It is a measure of how far the team has come that we went into the match confident and on the back of a string of wins.

If truth be told, we struggled to find the level of seriousness or intensity in the warm up, although Rich Butler did manage to incur a nosebleed. This may have been caused by one of the many bits of kit that rich has accumulated although no sound explanation was offered.

The day saw the OCs with one of their largest crowds of the season with supporters for both sides out in force. It is probably fair to say that many had been encouraged by the prospect of an all dayer in the pub afterwards.

When we eventually kicked off, it was regretable that the OOs had failed to muster a suitable front row, and our own utility forward Vasey did the honourable thing and swapped sides for the afternoon entering their otherwise feeble front row.

The early exchanges of the match saw some big clashes in the midfield, with both sides sporting back rows (Butler, Thorners and Ben) who weren't shy of a big tackle and locks (Dan and Josh) who weren't shy of a a rumble down the middle with ball in hand.

As ever, our centre partnership of Pegler and Simmo was creating mayhem with a variety of crash balls and switches that generally ended in Simmo taking 3 tacklers with him. A feature of our game this season has been the speed of support and the quality of rucking and recycling and today was no exception. Making his second start at scrum half, Ian Jones must have been delighted with the ball presentation from the base of the ruck.

Despite our midfield power, we failed to convert opportunities in the first 25 minutes and the pace of the OOs on the counter attack meant careless turnovers quickly resulted in territorial advantage being conceded. Perhaps almost against the run of play, it was a counter attack of our own that broke the deadlock.

An OO turnover in our own 22 was seized upon and forwards and backs managed to work the ball up the right flank with Dan, George and Kellet in the thick of things. The move contained well over 15 passes and three of 4 quickly recycled rucks and with a dip of the shoulder George powered over in the corner to open the OCs' account. 5-0.

Strangely after this we swithed off a little and could not seem to get the ball clear and Oundle pressed against our line. As ever the likes of Kev, George and Rich B were busy keeping the forwards at bay while Simmo and new 'ringer' full back Dan were at the forefront of taming the backs. Eventually though, after a sustained assault and several well recycled phases, the OOs found space on the left and and 4 on 2 overlap and went over for a converted and well deserved try. 5-7

The skipper (Ian) administered some harsh words, which were echoed by some of the senior players and we seemed to respond, picking up the intensity and passion of our game. We drove the OOs back in the loose and our front row of Ali, Steve and Henry seemed to have the measure of things in the scrum and we managed to win a few against the head. Eventually the penatly count grew and with one awarded on the 22 and players from both sides wondering whether the OCs would have a pop at goal, Kev made the decision to tap and go. With the OOs floundering and not back 10, they dilly-dallied in defense and ushered kev over in the corner to give us a narrow lead at half time. 10-7.

The second half saw us pick up the performance a bit as the line out continued to win our own ball and steal theirs and the scrum was causing them concerns. With such a volume of possession it was inevitable that we would score. This came after only about 10 minutes as some more forward and back exchanges saw both wingers combining with the front row displaying top class handling. eventually Ben burst through the line at the 22 and teed up full back Dan to cross over under the posts. 17-10

The game continued at a ferocious pace as the OOs tried a variety of tricks to break us down. One of their frustrating tactics was to continually slow our ball down in the ruck via lying on and handling the ruck ball. It was perhaps inevitable that our forwards administered their own justice to one unfortunate oppo forward and this led to one good honest round of fisticuffs prompting the ref to caution both teams.

That furore aside, the game eventually wound to its conclusion - a very satisfying win over the Old Ounsleydalians and procedings moved to the bar where a table for 30 with accompanying sarnies and chips provided the venue for an 9 hour rugby watching and drinking session where both teams were able to put the fights, fists, high tackles, stampings and off the ball tackles aside and debate the last of the 6 nations action.

There had been talk of the fixture secretary exercising a strict "3 strikes and you're out" rule on our friendly fixture list and with the OCs now having recorded 3 straight wins over Oundle since the inaugural match 2 seasons back that is certainly an option to threaten them with, but I suspect the fixture will live on, particularly if it provides such quality post match drinking.

OVJ