Boro lose to a strong Oundle

Game 6 and Boro welcome newly promoted Oundle to Cut Throat Lane

This week saw Boro entertain Oundle at Cut Throat Lane, Boro needed a win to reignite their campaign whilst Oundle looked to consolidate their position in the top half of the table. Again it was another week with a number of changes, this time the pack saw a change in the front row with Will Bigley starting, changes to the second row with Adam Fuller and Dan Pateman partnering each other and in the back row Dan Sims started in the 6 shirt. In the backs, Tyler Chant made his Wellingborough debut with Tom Mair going into the 12 shirt, Luke Smith started at full back and Steven Gall started for his first this season for the 1st XV on the wing.

1st Half
The first half saw a scrappy start from Boro as they tried to get a foothold in the game. A couple of defensive issues saw Oundle given a penalty shot at goal which was taken to give them the lead (Boro 0v3 Oundle). Boro answered back, a kick through from Oundle was collected by Steven Gall who pushed the ball wide right, Tom Bryan drew the winger before putting Kieran Checkley in space and he popped the ball inside for Steven Gall to dot down for the opening try (Boro 5v3 Oundle). Oundle were starting to exert some pressure on Boro as the half progressed and it took some strong defence to hold them up over the line, however, from the resulting set piece they worked two quick rucks before scoring and taking the lead (Boro 5v10 Oundle).

Boro kept trying to retake the lead and a well worked lineout move saw Chris Shipman make a break down to the try line but some strong defence saw Boro held up. A powerful scrum on the line saw Boro nearly make it over but again were held up over the line and ultimately gave away a penalty. Oundle then made a mistake trying to run it out of their own half , some strong defensive pressure saw the ball dropped and Tyler Chant picked it up and sprinted in to score a try on his debut, the conversion was kicked by Tom Mair giving Boro back the lead (Boro 12v10 Oundle). Oundle tried to reassert their grip on the game and it took a momentous tackle from Kieran Checkley to stop them gaining an overlap (he also wants me to mention his pass!!!!). However, Oundle soon scored another try as they broke down the left hand side to score a try which was converted (Boro 12v17 Oundle).

Half Time
Wellingborough 12 v 17 Oundle

2nd Half
The second half started off in a similar vein with Boro conceding an early penalty allowing Oundle to extend their lead (Boro 12v20 Oundle). A series of half breaks from Boro saw them get some territory but the final pass just wasn't sticking, again it took Steven Gall to take decisive action for a score to occur. He ran a kick back and broke through the defence and into the Oundle 22, his attempted kick through then rebounded into Tom Bryan's hands who dotted the ball down to bring Boro within 3 points (Boro 17v20 Oundle).

Oundle then extended their lead after a set piece and a defensive mistake (Boro 17v27 Oundle), a wide attack from Boro nearly prevailed but a dropped ball saw the chance go. Connor Riley then made a break from his own half but the final pass was misplaced and again another chance went and this was story for the next five minutes as Boro tried to force their way over for a try through a series of scrums. However, it Oundle who eventually broke free and scored a try after stealing the ball from Boro (Boro 17v32 Oundle). Boro did eventually manage to get a bonus point as they scored their fourth try, this time the ball was turned over by Kieran Checkley, the ball then went through a number of phases with Shaun Mackie scoring the final try of the game which was converted by Tom Mair (Boro 24v32 Oundle).

Full Time
Wellingborough 24 v 32 Oundle

A tough defeat to take especially as four tries were scored so some serious regrouping needs to take place this week especially as we go to Kettering next week. This game needs no build up from a Boro point of view and the team will need to certainly up their performance from this week to win the game.