Olney survive second half Long Buckby fightback after Irwin's trio

Euan Irwin was the hat-trick hero for Olney | Pic: Jeff Bowden

Olney let off the gas late on but it wasn't enough for Long Buckby to mount a tilt at victory as they held on to win 38-26.

Long term adversaries, Olney took full advantage of the slope in the opening half to run in four converted tries to put the visitors firmly in control.

But it took 23 minutes for the first one to come as Glen White touched down, with Jordan Letts converting.

White’s try opened the floodgates, with Euan Irwin scoring his first four minutes later, with Letts again on duty.

And a third followed a minute later when Lloyd Sweeney ran almost the length of the field to score.

The fourth came on the stroke of half time as Irwin ran in his second of the afternoon to make it 28-0 at the break.

Playing up the slope did not seem to change the course of the game though, with Phil Bowden adding to the score just three minutes after the restart, before Irwin completed his hat-trick to make it 38-0 13 minutes in.

But from there, Olney were able to take their foot off the accelerator, and it almost allowed Long Buckby back into the contest.

The home side ran in their first try just a minute after Irwin’s hat-trick, before three more second half scores saw them close the gap to just 12 points come the full-time whistle.

The win moves Olney up to third spot in Midlands 2 East (South) with a 100 per cent record. They welcome Market Bosworth to Olney on September 29.