MHRUFC U14s Vs Oaham RFC U14s

It feels like the wind has been blowing all week. The conditions were almost identical to the game at South Leicester last week. The rain held off until the match was over, but the gale never abated, which meant any cross kicking or conversion attempts were likely to be difficult.
Oakham have always been a formidable opponent, always well drilled and confident and today they took to the field looking as solid as ever. Harborough, still on a run of wins, were keen not to give quarter at a home game, so this was going to be a real battle.
Having kicked off, Oakham made the first moves and Harborough felt themselves under considerable pressure from the off. The Oakham pack proved a serious threat as they drove toward the Harborough try line, but despite their relative size and strength advantage they found that the lighter more mobile Harborough forwards were more than a match. Oakham were thwarted constatnly with counter rucks form props Max Halls and James Watkins and Hooker Sammy Stamps, Harbrough were able to hold their own ground firmly. This defensive play was bolstered by Flankers Charlie Power and Will Adams (Capt), who's quick intercepts and distribution helped stabilise the lines. Oakham's determination to press ahead was their undoing as they left themselves with poor defensive cover as the Harborough backs made their counter move, Fullback Jack Rowlatt sprinted through at full speed ably supported by winger Joe Harrison, as Harrison's demands for a pass drew the remaining defenders attention Rowlatt was able to easily sidestep him and plant the ball between the posts. The conversion attempt narrowly missed but Harborough were now five ahead. The Kick off bounced into touch and Harborough took a line out, Harborough secured the ball, but ran quickly into trouble as the Oakham pack wrapped up Adams trying to drive through, a quick ruck over from Second row Matthew Robinson and Ollie Hoare gave time for Scrum Half Alex McGregor to ship the ball away from trouble, now the Harborough backs were able to show their pace as the ball quickly moved through Fly Half Will Dawson and Inside Centre Dan Hands to the eager hands of Outside Centre Tom Wainwright, taking full advantage of his speed and the stretch of unopposed green ahead he drove on and scored a second try with support from winger Louis Van Den Berg, the wind took the conversion attempt wide but Harborough were ten up. Oakham had to pull something out to get back into the game. They had been putting in a huge amount of groundwork so far to no avail. Seeing some space in the Harborough backs line their Centre powered through at pace and only desperate measures held him up, Oakham were on the up as they pressed Harborough on their own try line. Repeated thrusts were held up as Harborough defended like demons, all players held their ground in the face of what appeared to be a certain score for Oakham, a try that would under any circumstances be well earned, but against all odds Harborough pulled a turnover out of the bag. Under normal circumstances an overhead kick and chase would have been the recommended course of action, and indeed shouts too clear the line from supporters fell silent as Wainwright accelerated out of the action into undefended space. Oakham tried to give chase, as did the Harbrough backs, but no-one was going to catch him as he ran the length of the pitch to score a third for the home team, and then went ahead and converted it too. Oakham kicked off again, but the kick, dragged by the wind, went straight out. Harborough took the scrum and a battle royale broke out as each team desperately tried to outflank the other. Number Eight Ben Marshall took the initiative off the back of a scrum and battered a hole in the Oakham lines, as he was brought down short of the line ha made a timely offload to Adams who stole the fourth try and with a successful conversion the half ended with Harborough 24-0 up.
Oakham, despite the half time score were not to be underestimated. They entered the second half with real determination. Harborough, probably feeling a little overconfident, found themselves pressed once again to their try line. Solid defensive work was all that lay between Oakham and a much coveted try. Fresh prop Theo Barre found himself right in the thick of it as he worked with the pack to snuff out Oakham's efforts. As Scrum Half Fabian Boddy passed the ball away from a ruck and Hoare made a blinding run into the clear, but this time Oakham were ready and a good tackle saved them this time. Oakham tried a similar manoeuvre as they moved the ball wide in an attempt to get around, Centre Dan Hands put in a crunching tackle and the advance stalled momentarily as Oakham regrouped and tried again, but winger Oscar Spiers had it covered as he intercepted and drove the ball carrier in to touch. Harborough responded well to the pressure and kept cool, Dawson kicked over into the wind as Harborough's backs advanced at pace, Wainwright making the most of the space ran in another try with support from Winger Geordan Bedford and again he converted. Oakham were clearly starting to tire, the fiery efforts at the beginning of the half were starting to fade and Harborough were able to exploit this. Probing round from Wainwright, Robinson and Marshall were all held up, but the intensity of the attacks proved too much. Thomas Melody drove into the Oakham players and with some neat sidesteps was away and over the line placing the ball between the posts. His conversion kick was a great effort into the wind but fell just wide. The kick off was ably caught by Power who proved his worth taking the ball deep into Oakham territory, as they scrambled to counter Harborough moved the ball left through the hands of all the backs as they advanced switching the ball direction several times before it was taken in for the final try by Dawson. Wainwright converted a rather awkward angle into the wind to end the game 43-0
Oakham were a great team, spirited, determined and always dangerous, they made the Harborough boys battle the whole game and sometimes the scoreline makes things appear easy, but Harborugh really had to work hard for this win, they proved themselves rugged in defence and opportunistic in attack. A great game to watch.