St Ives vs. Oundle
St Ives achieved the double over Oundle on Saturday in a game that was unfortunately ended in upsetting circumstances.
The game started brightly for St Ives, and from the kick off it was obvious that the forwards were to have the upper hand in this encounter. From the first Oundle scrum the St Ives pack lay down a bench mark and drove their opposition back a good five yards, turning the ball over and launching the attack. But despite this dominance, it fell to an Oundle mistake that opened the scoring for the visitors. Providing good pressure around the ruck saw the ball pop out rapidly, in a panic the Oundle scrum half attempted to find his fly half, only to find Adam Clark on an interception course. With no opposition in front of him, Adam scored to the left of the posts and opened St Ives' account. Adam was successful with the conversion.
Oundle hit back quickly with a penalty attempt, taking the option to get points on the board and punish St Ives for poor ruck discipline.
The rest of the first half was a messy affair. Playing into a blustery wind, St Ives struggled to find a rhythm to their attack, constantly looking dangerous in attack but failing to complete the final blow. In the end it came down to a chip over from Adam Clark, an awkward bounce found Jack Blackley on hand to collect the ball. Rounding the final defender Jack steamed under the posts for St Ives' second try. Adam was again successful with the kick.
The game then deteriorated into a series of mistakes from both side, with St Ives enjoying the majority of possession but both teams struggling with the blustery conditions. Oundle did achieve a try before the close of the half, St Ives getting caught in their own 22 trying to run the ball out instead of clearing it to safety. Oundle missed the conversion bringing the half time score to Oundle 8 St Ives 14.
Starting the second half St Ives now had the wind behind them and looked to put it to good effect by keeping Oundle pinned in their own half. It was working to good effect but once again the awkward conditions prevented any further scores.
The Bulls finally broke the deadlock about half way through the half, once again the strong work of the forwards providing a stable platform for the backs. Quick hands down the line found the ball in the arms of Paxton who combined well with Jamie Noble on a switch move, putting Jamie through for a clear run under the posts. Adam was again successful with the conversion and the score stood at 21-8.
Oundle then began to up the pressure and came close on a number of occasions, but stalwart and stubborn defense from the visitors kept the home side out. This period included about 10 minutes constant pressure on the St Ives 5 metre line, but the forwards repelled all attacks. With 8 minutes left on the clock the game was unfortunately brought to an early close. The Oundle winger, attacking down the line, was caught in the tackle, sustaining a head injury in the process. The referee decided that as there were no qualified people on hand to move the player, the game could not continue until the paramedics arrived and called the game to a close.
Final score Oundle 8 - St Ives 21. Speaking after Ross Thompson was delighted with the result but concerned about the safety of the opposition winger. It is never nice to see someone suffer an injury and we all hope that nothing serious has occurred. As for the game, it was frustrating to not score more, we did not play the best today in attack despite enjoying territorial and possession superiority. Despite this the teams defensive performance was magnificent and the forward display in the tight was on a par too. This win guarantees us our position with one more game to come.