Oundle 37 St Ives 0
St Ives continued their dismal run of form with a woeful performance against Oundle.
Having won the previous clash by a healthy 22-0, St Ives were confident and fired up going into the return fixture. However, numerous factors contrived to deny them a repeat performance.
It was a surprise that the match was played at all. With the recent rain, many pitches around the area (including St Ives own home ground) were waterlogged, and Oundle’s ground – a quagmire at the best of times – proved to be no exception. However, the match went ahead.
St Ives started brightly and aggressively, receiving the kick off and taking the game to Oundle. However, with the pitch more suited to mud wrestling, handling errors crept into matters early on and St Ives stifled their own efforts by knocking on or dropping the ball at crucial moments, letting Oundle off the hook. Oundle then scored through a period of forward pressure, and St Ives tackling was again left wanting.
This proved to be the story of the game. Any time St Ives got the ball, they knocked on, dropped the ball or just plain seemed allergic to keeping hold of it. At almost every breakdown, ball carriers were turned over (not always legally, something the referee seemed blind to apart from when Ives tried it) and then Oundle would use this possession to mount an attack.
St Ives had two meaningful attacks, but both ended with Oundle scoring. St Ives forwards started a maul on half way and were marching up the pitch, led by Captain Hammond and directed by scrum half Nigel Sweeny. In complete control, Sweeny then passed the ball out to the Ives backs, only for the pass to be intercepted and the forwards work was for nothing. Another was formed from one of the few decent rucks that Ives set up, but at the last minute the ball carrier was turned over and possession lost.
Final score was 37 – 0 to Oundle.
Speaking after the match, St Ives captain Pete Hammond said “Bugger. We came here hoping to turn our season around. We had beaten this team previously in the season and were hopeful of a win. However, we were woeful in almost all areas. Set pieces were ok – line out was satisfactory, scrums were solid as always – but around the park we were severely lacking. We knew their attacking runners and should have targeted them. But we went high in the tackle and were shrugged off. Our ball retention in the tackle was shocking, so every time a ruck formed we lost the ball, leading to a game where we had precious little possession to attack with. And when we did attack, we knocked on, dropped the ball or were simply clueless. Quite simply, it boils down to a lack of training. We have to improve if we are to have a hope of staying in this league next season, but if we continue to play like this then we don’t deserve to remain in this league.”
St Ives next league game is away at Rusden and Higham on the 26th of January.