With Christmas time fast approaching, we welcomed the youth of Old Northampton to Ash Grove
for this return fixture following our narrow 17-19 win, way back in September. There were,
however, undoubted signs that both A&C and ONs were on the rise, from their 10th and 11th
places, respectively. I know that there had been concerns from ONs that, following some of their
previous star players being persuaded to play elsewhere, the remaining youthful inexperience
would perhaps struggle in the league for the 2025/2026 season.

Last season, ONs finished a deserved 4th and would in fact have finished in the top 3 if A&C hadn’t beaten Sudbury at home on
the last day of last season.

With this in mind, we were never going to take this fixture lightly, and with the 2 youngest squads,
the expectation was rightly that a proper ‘ding dong’ would result. We were not to be disappointed.
From the start, both teams went at each other hammer and tongs, with little between them. ONs
took an early lead with A&C never far away. Both sides, though, were disappointing in defence,
effectively undermining some terrific attacks. All credit to both sets of players for what was a
closely fought and entertaining match.

Ending 10 pts clear, Old Northamptonians deserved their win with both teams welcoming potent
attacking play alongside some weak defending. A reminder, undoubtedly, that the style of play is a
bonus when it’s the points and victory that matter. ONs and A&C are now on the same number of
points, with A&C ahead in points difference.

Apologies re lack of scorer detail as I was multitasking, running very fast throughout the match as
a top Linesman

A&C 1XV - 1. Doug McGregor-Smith 2. David Cole. 3. Charlie Swerling. 4. Harry Bradshaw. 5.
Sam Gilbert. 6. Mikey Everett. 7. Josh Finch (C). 8. Jordan Scott 9. Ben Harris. 10. Dan Kingsley
11. Dom Ashwell. 12. Noah Jarvis. 13. Harry Stevens. 14. MacKenzie South. 15. Sammy Sinclair
Subs 16. Max Morphey. 17. Kazeem Olayinka. 18. James Morrison.