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Oundle School resisted a second half revival from Lymm High School to win their NatWest Schools Cup Quarter-final 21-12 today and reach a Semi-Final for the first time.
As the touchlines swelled with Oundle supporters filled with anticipation, and the marching band drumming up the atmosphere, some of the Lymm camp quipped that “It’s like a Premiership game here”.
But it was Oundle who played to a beat and a rhythm in the opening exchanges, dictating the tempo, and showing the calmness and precision of a Premiership side.
Lymm came with a game plan to run the ball on every opportunity sensing superiority out wide, but too often they ran down dead ends, coughing up the ball back to a snarling Oundle pack spearheaded by their powerful back row trio of Ben Curry, Tom Curry and captain Francis Cundell.
But for all their early possession and territory Oundle struggled to breakdown a stubborn Lymm defence, and had to settle for two Angus McRae penalties.
![Oundle v Lymm 2]()
But the home side continued to turn the screw, and something had to give – a yellow card to Lymm allowing them more space, and after a tiring number of phases Oundle centre Toby Warner stretched over to lift the home crowd who might have wondered when that try was going to come.
Oundle continued to control the play, their catch and drive game was effective, but small handling errors prevented them from really driving home that advantage.
Lymm eventually worked their way into the Oundle twenty-two and were awarded with a threatening penalty in the corner on the final play, but a knock on brought the opportunity to a halt.
An almost perfect half for Oundle, and ‘more of the same’ made up the bulk of the murmurings from the Oundle camp gathered under the posts as the half time whistle shrilled.
More of the same was exactly what the Oundle players delivered in the second half, continuing to suffocate their opponents up front.
What looked like a potentially match winning score came early in the second half, when an eight man maul turned into an unstoppable 15 man maul, with Tom Curry snuggling at the bottom of it all over the line.
But Lymm fought back, their forwards found an abrasive edge, and talented half back Alex Mitchell and Mark Dixon had Oundle in a spin with their elusive running.
![Oundle v Lymm 3]()
It was another a maul which gave the visitors a sniff – hooker Rob Makin the scorer.
It was now Lymm who were dominating possession and territory, driving through the middle, then shifting the ball from one side of the pitch to the other.
It was lung busting and draining, and when the home side’s defence fatigued, Dixon exploited a gap to score Lymm’s second and bring them to within one score.
An anxious finale lay in store, but Oundle responded positively and attacked their opponents with the intensity they demonstrated in the first half.
Warner came close to scoring his second, only to be held up over the line, but the damage had been done, Oundle had won a penalty and McRae put them two scores ahead.
With that cushion, and with the clock ticking, it was just a case of holding on. Lymm continued to attack, keeping the ball away from contact with their offloading game, and could have scored again had it not have been for a loose final pass.
But the clock did its job and Oundle will now meet Bromsgrove at Allianz Park, one game from a trip to HQ.
Oundle’s Head of Rugby John Olver commented:“We played as well as we could have done in the first half, but massive credit to Lymm they played with real character in the second half, and probably didn’t play to their straps in the first half.
“It was a great advert for schools rugby.
“We don’t teach the boys anything we didn’t learn in our playing days, it’s all about looking after the ball and giving them a good outing up front!”
Lymm High School Head Coach Lee Pickles added:“It was tough because we thought we had the beating of them out wide in the backs, but we probably weren’t doing it in the right areas, and should have looked for more control until at least the half way line before we looked to play.
“It was the second time this lot got to a quarter-final, we need to look for a combination to get past that!
” These lads are a brilliant bunch, from 1-15 they work and train so hard.”
Image credit- Gerry McManus
Oundle School
Miles Keane, Ali Taylor, James Keating, Max Howard, Doug Russell, Ben Curry, Tom Curry, Francis Cundell (C), George Chatterton, Freddie Johns, Angus McRae, Freddi MacNaughton, Toby Warner, Oscar Marshall, Tristan Tusa
Replacements: David Golding, Ali Wright Charlie Bradbeer, Finn Carr, James Tarbatt, Oli Trotter, Angus White
Lymm High School
George Fingleton, Rob Makin, Oscar McCormack, Drew Fray, Josh Nolan, Alex Nolan, Nat Johnstone, Joe McGrail, Alex Mitchell, Mark Dixon, Mike Swaden, Freddie Walkington, Josh Davies, Dan Masnyk, Jacob Davies
Replacements: Alex Kitching, Ellis Byrne, Sam Butler, Tim Downes, Charles Atkins, Rory Riddle, Jack Milne
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