Sunday saw the arrival of Market Harborough to the fortress Chicken Shack. A little light on numbers we had renewed optimism after the recent defeats to Wisbech and Shelford.
The conditions were perfect for rugby and the boys looked fresh after their extra hour in bed.

The first 10 mins were a battle, too and fro with no dominance from either team. Harborough made the first score of the half with some missed tackles in the centre field see them make good yards and score, missing the conversion, from the kick off they broke again, they turned the ball over well and scored again, missing the conversion. This is when we sprung into life, carrying the ball well, securing the ruck (something that was lacking in the last few weeks) and in his usual fashion Will turned on the afterburners and destroyed the defense for a great try, this was converted by Dolly. The rest of the half was hard fought, if it was'nt for some amazing last minute tackles by Jonah "chopper" Charles at full back we would have been well down. Other noticeable runs by Max, Callum and Daniel kept the opposition on their toes and an unlucky and questionable offside from a Jack interception could have seen us go into half time up

Half time 7-10

For some reason our half time team talk had a negative effect (or maybe a good one from the Harborough coaches) saw the first quarter of the second half descend into a nightmare. Harborough scored 24 unanswered points (could have been more if it was not for last ditch tackles) Then we as coaches saw something we have not seen before, A fired up and motivated team, Sam and Sponge had words with the team after their last try was converted and we saw the team we know is in there!!

We secured our ball, turned over their ball, ran good lines, defend really well and started believing in ourselves. Will took the ball on our halfway and fired up the jets again, sidestepping the oppo and scoring another try, converted by Dolly 14-34. Then our forwards dominated, breaking the gain line time and again, with Frank "the tank" taking the ball of the back of a maul and powering through and scoring, Dolly converted again like a metronome! 21-34. Time was running out with 8 minutes left, Tulip made a meandering, maizy run from our own 22 breaking into their own 22 but sadly pulled his groin in the process with the defenders bearing down on him. Unfortunately he had to come off. But the team kept their heads up and battled till the last minute.

Another dominant total rugby performance from all of the team, saw Josh "the Sniper" take a scrappy ball and push for the line scoring in the dying seconds, sadly Dolly missed the conversion hitting the post saw the final whistle blow 26-34.

The final result was not what we wanted, but the attitude towards the end of the match was exactly what we wanted to see. Grit, resilience and when it comes CONSISTENCY will reap the rewards in the upcoming matches!!

Up the Ives!