In the last game before the Christmas break Harbury hosted Long Buckby in a friendly fixture to coincide with the clubs respective First XV Junior Vase game. The two clubs meet in the Paddy Tournament at the beginning of the season but it is rare for them to be fixtured together other than that.
Harbury had been forced into a number of changes in the pack notable Dan Shinkwin and Mathew Holloway moving into the frontrow and Charlie Gladden onto the backrow. Despite this the team was in buoyant mood as kick-off approached and it was clear a great game was going too played out.
From the beginning of the game both teams enjoyed plenty of possession testing both attack and defence. How the score remained at nil nil for so long is a credit to the style with which the game was being played. The only score of the first half came from a Long Buckby penalty late on.
The second half began in a floury with first another Buckby penalty followed shortly after by Richard Mazurek slotting one over for the hosts. Play settled down for a time but a break from Centre Sam Reeves saw a 50meter foot race resulting in a last ditch try saving tackle from the Long Buckby wing. The visitors capitalised in the change of fortunes forcing Harbury back into their own half. After a number of personnel changes in the Long Buckby team the fresh legs began to make the difference. Firstly a disrupted scrum on the Harbury 5meter line gifted Buckby a simple 7points followed shortly after by another converted try. Harbury rallied and began to bring themselves back into the game with a cracking try from Reeves which was converted by Mazurek. Time was against the hosts and despite valiant attempts the final whistle denied Harbury any improvement in the scoreline.
Man of the Match was Sam Bushell