MEN'S RUGBY: Holt and Patrick at the double for ONs

Holt reached over the line for the ONs’ first try and minutes later, Adam Civil put Ash Fullthorpe through a gap, with Holt in support to rampage over for his second.

The ONs continued to press - and Drew Hudson dotted down.

Billy North converted all three tries and added a penalty as half-time approached to give his side a 24-0 lead at the break.

Both teams struggled to dominate as the second half opened, until Civil ripped the ball clear and strode in from 30 metres for the bonus-point try.

ONs’ Richard Blank was then sin-binned but still the defence held firm.

And eventually, North kicked on for Patrick to pick up and go over for his first try.

Buzzard did eventually grab a converted try, but as full-time approached, Patrick’s run took him through the opposition defence for his second and ONs’ final score of the game.

North converted to round things off in style.

Meanwhile, Old Northamptonians IIIs lost 22-17 in their friendly against Scouts IIs.

Simon Portwain(2) and Ben Briddon scored for ONs, with Kieran Murdie adding a conversion.

Rushden & Higham IIs 29 Heathens 10

A THIRTEEN-minute nightmare cost Heathens in the Directors League merit table clash at Manor Park.

A lack of defensive pressure from the away side led to a quick accumulation of points by Rushden & Higham, who scored on five, seven, eight and 13 minutes, converting twice.

The Romany-based Heathens then ignited a spark of resilience that lead to a tighter defence and increased pressure being placed on the hosts’ try line.

Winger Connor O’Brien touched down for an unconverted try on 25 minutes and there were no further scores until the 68th-minute, when Rushden & Higham registered a five-pointer.

Heathens responded within three minutes as scrum-half Aidan Sales crossed for the final score of the day.

Long Buckby 37 Olney 17

Long Buckby produced a superb second-half fightback as they beat Olney in Midlands 2 East (South).

Buckby went 5-0 up after five minutes thanks to Andrew Oliver, but Olney hit back with tries from Isaac Shields and Marcus Goss, whose effort was converted by Hamish Bull.

Fergus Murray registered Buckby’s second score before the break, but Olney were to go in ahead thanks to another effort from Shields.

Buckby were 17-10 down at half-time, but they refused to let Olney score a single point during the second period.

And tries from Tim Lewis, Jake Toseland and Andrew Frankland got the job done for Buckby, with Dan McNally kicking two conversions and two penalties.

Old Scouts 32 Market Rasen & Louth 5

Scouts climbed three places up the Midlands 1 (East) table after this bonus-point victory.

Adam Frost kicked an early penalty and midway through the half a break from half way saw Liam Hancock release the ball close to the line for Dean Lake to dot down.

A magnificent spell of controlled rucking in the visitors’ half soon resulted in a second try, with Tom Holliday on hand to dive over and Frost adding the extras.

Rasen were not content to sit back and thought they had scored in the corner when Scouts failed to clear their lines. The referee was unsighted but following the five-metre penalty, a slick move saw them score in the opposite corner.

The home side increased their lead before the break when they created width across the field for Alex McKie to score a try that went unconverted to leave the score at 20-5.

The visitors came out for the second half in determined mood and asked questions of Scouts’ defence for 20 minutes, but they were stopped in their tracks and unable to gain a score.

The hosts hit back and second phase ball found Lake in support to score his second and earn the bonus point.

Scouts were in command again and more good work from Giron-Walsh released Holliday to add his second. Frost converted the latter.

Barnes 62 Towcestrians 7

TOWCESTRIANS suffered a heavy defeat in the London & SE Premier.

Only a Jamie Warr score and James Falvey conversion gave them any consolation on a difficult day.