Harbury 38-7 Northampton BBOBs

On the day that the most talented rugby player in the Hunt family played at Twickenham as part of the Injured Players Foundation, the Harbury 1st XV took their first steps towards a potential final at Twickenham in the 1st Round of the Papa John's Cup. Harbury came up against a strong Aston Old Ed's side in this competition last season, exiting at the earliest stage, but we're keen to do well in the competition this season and will be looking to go as far as we can.

Given different cup rules, we were permitted to name a 22 man squad this weekend and Harbury filled the bench with a number of Bees featuring in a strong squad. The day was designated as the club's memorial day, as we took the time to remember those we've lost through the years with a minute's silence.

It was always going to be difficult to match the intensity of the past few weeks given the sheer ecstasy of winning the title last Saturday, but the warmup was a little flat and that translated into the opening exchanges. BBOBs started the better of the two sides, and only a last ditch effort forced a knock on over the line.

Harbury continued to look sluggish early on, but did open the scoring within the first 10 minutes. Whelan found a bit of space down the left and cut inside beating a number of defenders before offloading out the back to Harry Holland, for the scrum half to run in under the sticks. Ricky added the extras for 7-0. Scarcely 5 minutes later, Ricky fielded a clearance kick and carried back into the BBOB 22, as the ball was recycled on the short side, Boag found Jason Wood, and the Cat juggled the ball like a skein of yarn, before finally claiming and scoring his 8th of the season. Ricky added the extras from out wide for 14-0.

The third try wasn't far behind. An attacking scrum saw the backs make good metres down the right, with Whelan and Higgins both going close. Luke Winchester was somehow stopped just metres out on a hard line, and as Harry fished the ball out of the ruck, Jeff ran onto the ball supported by TK and Cummings, and powered over the line to just about get the ball down. The conversion drifted narrowly wide for 19-0.

We weren't to have this all out own way however, and BBOBs hit back with a try of their own as they cut through and finished nicely to score under the sticks for 19-7. The squad didn't want to let the opposition back into the game though, and hit back instantly. A midfield scrum gave the backs the opportunity to run a set piece move, and as Boag found Hobson, the athletic centre burst through almost untouched, careening over the whitewash for a superb individual effort. Ricky converted for 26-7.

Harbury still weren't playing particularly well, but even playing below our potential we're capable of scoring brilliant tries. A chip over the top from BBOB was fielded in the Harbury 22 by Whelan, and the winger made good metres round the outside and back into the BBOB half. Harbury now surged forward, and with gaps appearing in the defensive line Hobson put Tom Dodds through a gap and the second row galloped through and found Cummings with an offload. As Cummings was felled just short, quick ball at the base from O'Connor allowed Boag to put Doddsy in for a well-worked try. Ricky added the extras for 33-7, and the half time whistle wasn't far behind.

The coaches rang the changes at half time, introducing Steve Alford, Chris Woodhams and Matt Holloway from the bench as they looked to keep the scoreline ticking against an increasingly depleted BBOBs side, who lost a number of players to injury throughout the game. Harbury quickly added to the scoreline in the second half, as Higgins joined the backline off his wing, he put a well placed grubber in behind the BBOB back 3. He chased his own kick and with Whelan and Wood Harbury won the turnover 5 metres out. Quick ball from Boag was halted by a slap-down from BBOB which would have resulted in a penalty try, if not for the ball bouncing into Woodham's hands for the returning Aussie to score with what must have been his first touch. With Ricky off, Jackson missed narrowly with the conversion to leave the score at 38-7.

Harbury had further opportunities to score in the second half, with Winchester going close on a number of occasions, and Cummings scoring a legitimate try which was incorrectly ruled out. Despite the plentiful opportunities, Harbury failed to add to add to their scoreline, and even despite a somewhat harsh yellow card for Tom Boag, Harbury held out to take the victory and progress to the next round of the cup.

MotM went to Joe Cummings for an industrious and brilliant carrying performance in the back row, whilst DotD was shared between Jay Morgan, who refused to go on because he's going on holiday in 2 weeks... and Tom Doddsy Allen for not bringing any of his kit with him.

Next up is the visit of Tewkesbury, who overcame Norton in the last round, and we'll be looking for a victory in what is set to be our last competitive home game of the season. Let's bring home the Pizza Cup.

Up the Harbs,
Toby Whelan