Pre-season at Banbury and Long Buckby
After travelling to Banbury for a midweek trial game under the host club’s floodlights, OLs made the shorter trip for friendly matches against Long Buckby on Saturday27th August.
Close to 40 players made the trip to Banbury on 18th August, a highly encouraging turnout and a fact that was noted by the host club, who were unable to muster two full teams. The trial was played as 4 x 20 minute sessions and in the opener, between the first choice selections, OLs defensive capabilities were thoroughly tested as the competitive Banbury pack retained and recycled possession for more than half the session. But OLs held firm, the hosts rarely getting across the gain line and coming away with just a penalty goal.
Once they broke the stranglehold, OLs looked the livelier side, regularly breaking the Banbury defensive line and coming away with a try by Ollie Cowley after a sweeping move covering 60 metres.
James Melvin’s men found themselves facing the largest part of the Banbury first choice selection in the second period and succumbed to just a single try. In the 3rd and 4th sessions, OLs came out on top, scoring just one try in each. Reed claimed the first of them and Simon Bayliss outstripped the cover to score in the final session, bringing to a close a satisfactory workout for the club.
At Long Buckby on the 27th, two full games were played simultaneously. In the battle between the 1st XVs, OLs failed to get to grips with the referee’s approach and consequently conceded a string of penalties in the first half. This gave Buckby the lion’s share of possession and their big pack dominated the early proceedings. But they failed to find any chinks in OL’s defensive armour and had to be content with a single penalty goal for their efforts.
But with the ball in hand, OLs threatened every time they attacked. Some excellent handling and sweeping moves yielded four tries by half time, Danny Murch looking very sharp in claiming three of them, Grant Inch touching down the fourth. Number 8 Stuart Eborall was proving a real handful for the Buckby defence, very well supported by locks Ben Anderson and Paul Willis with Chris le Poidevin also well to the fore.
In the second period, the pattern continued as before, Jon Bean sniping round the blindside to go over but failing to ground the ball in the referee’s opinion. Then Murch sent Inch in for his second before Ollie Cowley got over in the corner after a prolonged attack. A fine afternoon’s work by Danny Murch was rounded off when the centre went over for his fourth try and a 39-3 scoreline.
The encounter between the 2nd XVs was an altogether closer affair, OLs coming out on top by 18-12. A number of welcome new faces were on show in this game, giving the 2nds the chance to try out some different combinations. Ben Shepherd picked up where he left off last season, regularly punching holes in the home defence and scoring a try. OLs second touch down was claimed by prop Jack Boulden and Danny Orr completed the scoring with a conversion and two penalties.
Report by Bill Wallis
