Match Report: Get Out Of The Way John!
For the 1st time in 2025, Oundle would be playing on home astro, returning to Pavilion Drive for 3 straight home games. Rugby and East Warwickshire 4s had the honour of being the first away team to line up on the hallowed astro. In the reverse of this fixture Oundle were 2-0 looking dead and buried before staging a fantastic comeback to win 3-2. The two players battling it out for this season’s Top Gun, George Martin and John Pickstone both players capable of scoring fantastic goals. They proved it back in Rugby with both of them scoring absolute wonder strikes. Oundle lined up with a strong 16 players, due to high availability a couple of players were unable to be selected for the game, with everyone eager to play and avenge last weekend. Oundle lined up with a point to prove, putting last week’s disappointing weekend behind them. They got stuck straight in and Rugby. Oundle piled on the pressure during the early stages of the game, winning numerous short corners, with most shorts resulting in another short. Oundle did everything but score, Millan hitting the crossbar from one of his drag flicks and Albi hit a strong and stable shot which was scrambled off the line by Rugbys postman. It took until the middle of the half for Oundle to open the scoring, the goal came from a short corner, the injection going to castle No 1 for a straight strike from Tristan Ashby gave the Rugby keeper no chance and helped settle any Oundle nerves from the weekend. With Oundle now in the lead, it looked like the floodgates might now open, centre back Virgil Van Jimmy who saw his defending hero of Harry Maguire score an offside goal vs Leicester thought i can do that! Doing typical Jimmy things, he picked the ball up in his own D before driving at Rugby, exchanging a 1-2 pass with Martin inside the Rugby 23, Jimmy found himself free in the D, unleashing a low drive, he first found the side board, then the backboard for his 2nd goal of the season. Making this his most prolific season in Oundle colours and maintaining his 100% shot conversion ratio. The 1st half was all Oundle, with Rugby not able to offer much in reply apart from a couple of dangerous passes into the D which were quickly snuffed out by the Oundle defence and a drag flick from a short corner which went narrowly wide of Youngys left hand post. Oundle added a 3rd before half time through another short corner, when George Martin scored how Tristan had scored earlier in the half, a ferocious strike into the backboard, again giving the Rugby keeper no chance. George nearly added a 2nd goal for himself if it wasn’t for his strike partner Pickstone who tactically got in the way of a trademark George Martin reverse shot with George loudly exclaiming ‘Get Out The Way John!!!’ The 2nd half started, but Oundle didn’t, they allowed Rugby to dominate the game and dictate the play. As so often happens to Oundle, they conceded a scrappy goal, directed the ball into the path of one of the Rugby players who prodded the ball in from close range. With Rugbys first shot on target resulting in a goal, Rugby were eager to add another and attempted to test the resolve of Oundle, who had to dig in to weather the Rugby storm. With the Rugby on top and Oundle nerves looking a little bit shaky, Peter ‘Willow’ Wilson got the ball and flew down the right hand side of the pitch. Entering the Rugby D and drawing the keeper towards him, Willow played a clever pass to the waiting Tristan Ashby who had the simplest of jobs to sweep the ball home into the empty net. The rest of the game passed by very quickly with Oundle doing a very professional job of seeing the game out, resulting in a quiet 2nd half. It was a good and much needed win for Oundle winning 4-1. This result sees Oundle move to 4th place in the table. Next week they welcome the team directly below them to Pavilion Drive, Loughborough Town 3s for another rearranged fixture. HWTL.
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