Old Laurentians bow out of Warwickshire Shield in semi-final with Barkers Butts

Old Laurentians lost a very competitive and tight Warwickshire Shield semi-final game.

The defences of both teams excelled and were the dominant feature, with Barkers Butts winning 8-3 and will now play Nuneaton Old Edwardians in the final on Sunday.

OLs suffered from the unavailability of hooker Dom Hammond who scored four tries last week and his replacement Olly Cowley suffering an injury in the first 20 minutes, meaning skipper James Orbinson having to take up the front row position from his usual open side flanker role.

This change impacted on the performance of OLs’ line-outs, one of their real strengths and it says a lot for the commitment of the players that they kept the outcome of the game in the balance right up to the end.

Once again Nick Potgieter and Jay Smith played well and club captain Charlie Seager returned to his old position in the back row in the reshuffle. Barkers led 3-0 at half time and Dan Price on as a replacement at No 10 levelled after 55 minutes before Barkers’ no. 11 found himself in an overlap position on the left wing.

In the last 15 minutes OLRFC monopolised possession and territory but were unable to score.Despite the disappointment some valuable lessons from the game will have a positive impact in the league games, which begin on September 25 against Evesham before hosting Kidderminster Carolians on October 2.

OLs 2nds beat Rugby Welsh 35-14 at Alwyn Road (Welsh report on Advertiser website) whilst the Colts lost 7-0 to Old Northamptonians, who scored in the final minute of a very close game. That game kicked off at 1.15pm whilst the 1st team started at 3.10pm due to the same referee having to officiate. OLs were very grateful to Jamie Hanson for stepping in when the first team referee cancelled for illness that morning, ensuring that both games could be played.