Match Reports

Henley Hawks 17 vs. Chinnor 23

Oxfordshire Cup Semi Final

Sunday 5th March 2000

The controversy surrounding the build up to this game gave added spice and edge to the old rivalry between Chinnor and Henley in the Oxfordshire Senior Cup.

As predicted, Henley fielded a fair smattering of their Allied Dunbar squad, whilst Chinnor were able to start with their strongest side for some time with Vaughan and Porter declaring themselves fit and Oyebade coming in on the right wing.

This was a titanic struggle - not for the faint hearted. Henley possessed sheer pace on both wings and at full back so it was surprising that they passed the ball back inside to their supporting back row and ignored moving the ball wide to stretch the Chinnor defence more often.

Chinnor’s game plan was quite different. They used the strength of their pack as much as possible and kept driving at Henley down the tight side at every available opportunity.

The Chinnor defence all round was quite outstanding whenever it was required - close to the scrum, in the centre and in covering. First time tackling was of paramount importance to stop the ball at source and prevent the swift handling Henley three quarters exploiting any space.

Two penalty goals by Begley gave Chinnor a six point cushion before fly half Maudsley scored a try which appeared to be dropped over the line and was only awarded after consultation with the touch judge. Maudsley added the conversion.

Suitably stung, Chinnor then took the game to Henley and within 6 superb minutes scored two tries. Firstly, James Davies, an inspirational captain on the day, burst through the middle to hand on to Oyebade to go over with two Henley players hanging on to him. Chinnor were back in Henley territory straight from the restart. The Chinnor scrummage then exerted huge pressure successively on the Henley pack before the referee had no alternative than to award the away side a penalty try. This brought a huge roar from the large Chinnor contingent. Begley added both conversions.

Inexplicably, the referee then played 11 minutes extra time in the first half allowing Henley’s Bruce Rowland to score in the corner, just on the lengthy first half whistle.

The situation then looked ominous for Chinnor when Chilean international Sahid went over unopposed for the home side to put just three points between the sides with most of the first half left to play. This was when the Chinnor spirit came to the fore with their defence holding out against continuous pressure from the home side.

Another penalty from Conor Begley eased the pressure somewhat to give Chinnor a six point lead. That proved to be the end of the scoring and eventually the referee blew the final whistle, having played yet another 8 minutes extra time.

For Chinnor, it would be difficult to pick out anyone for special praise but the Chinnor front five were magnificent with the back row tackling and supporting heroically. Davies and Brooks were rock solid in the centre, Jobson and Vaughan defended and covered well and Begley kicked impeccably under such pressure.

Chinnor now meet Banbury in the final (a repeat of last year) at 1pm on Sunday 2nd April at Iffley Road – the third year in a row to enjoy the vocal talents of Chinnor’s own Barmy Army, now accurately referred to as Chinnor’s Winners.

Chinnor 20 vs. Amersham & Chiltern 16

Saturday 26th February 2000

Chinnor tried to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory on a blustery afternoon at Kinsey Road on Saturday. Playing into the breeze they established a 17pts to6 lead at half -time and with their pack shoving Amersham+Chiltern all over the park , a win by a comfortable margin seemed on the cards. However this was not the case as Amersham & Chiltern came back strongly in the second half to lag by just one point before a Conor Begley penalty well into the last quarter settled the issue.

Injuries and un-availability led to Chinnor making five changes from the side that defeated Bicester in the County Cup Quarter Final last Sunday. John Vaughan ,hamstring, Gary Porter, ankle and John Brown were amongst the non starters.

Chinnor took the lead in a manner which was not surprising when they shunted Amersham & Chiltern back yards in a scrummage near their line. The resulting collapsing and breaking -up of the scrum by Amersham & Chiltern giving the referee no other option other than to award a penalty try.Begley added the conversion. A further try by Tinegate from a rolling -maul again converted by Begley who also added a penalty to his tally against two penalties by Richardson gave Chinnor an 11point cushion at half - time.

Two half -time substitutions by Chinnor , both enforced to captain James Davies and flanker Stuart Tinegate did not help the Chinnor cause. Amersham& Chiltern began to get a fair chunk of possession coming right back into the game when scored well worked tries by their right wing Richardson and centre Luker, and indeed were strong at this stage. However good defence and more urgency in the final ten minutes saw home by virtue of the Begley penalty.

For Chinnor Gary Woodburn was prominent in the loose with the Chinnor front 5 as ever to the fore. Alan Cawston was Chinnor's most penetrative back.

Chinnor 45 vs. High Wycombe 0

Saturday 29^th January 2000

This was easily Chinnor’s best performance of the season so far as they rattled up 7 tries to defeat High Wycombe who came to Kingsey Road with high hopes, having gone three games without defeat in the league.

John Vaughan returned to the Chinnor side after nearly three months on the sidelines with a groin injury. Brown, Milburn and Rudman, however, were missing from the pack.

With a strong south westerly at their backs, High Wycombe quickly laid siege to the Chinnor line but a delightful movement from well inside their own half, saw Hugo van Coller, twice involved in the build up, go over for a sparkling opening score for the home side. Playing a short passing game into the strong blustering wind, Chinnor went further ahead when Alan Cawston finished powerfully from good approach work, with good handling from forwards and backs alike.

Chinnor finished the first half again on the attack and went in 10 points ahead which was just reward for the focused way in which they played the game.

With the wind at their backs, Chinnor soon made their intentions clear to play the game in their opponents 20 metre area. John Vaughan, who varied the play intelligently throughout, sniped in to register the first score of the second half. Tries then flowed from Fincken (2), Davies and Begley, who converted all 5 second half tries.

For Chinnor, Hugo Van Coller again impressed as did Paul Fincken, who although being 2^nd XV captain, continues to loyally step into the breach to help an injury struck Chinnor squad and play with such enthusiasm. Adam Hopcroft, Gary Porter and Gary Woodburn ran powerfully in the loose and it was good to see John Vaughan back in the fold.

Amersham & Chiltern 15 vs. Chinnor 23

Saturday 2nd October 1999

Playing easily their most attractive rugby of the season, Chinnor were worthy winners against near neighbours Amersham & Chiltern.

Patrick Jobson returned at fly half with Ben Thompson moving into the centre and Brett Hopcroft returned to the right wing after his weekend with Oxford University u21s. Stuart Tinegate came into the back row in place of Paul Fincken.

Chinnor playing down the slope and into the wind started well and should have opened the scoring but Richard Simpson lost the ball over the line. Amersham & Chiltern then struck when, from a delightful, planned three quarter move, left wing Mike Smith was put clear to score in the corner. McHardy added the conversion from the touchline.

Chinnor were then rewarded for their persistence and patience when good ball retention saw the ball move to the right for Brett Hopcroft to force his way over the line. Chinnor then added to their score again through Brett Hopcroft who shrugged off two tackles and ran powerfully down the right wing, outpaced the covering defence to dive over in the corner.

Leading 10 points to 7 and into injury time in the first half, Chinnor conceded a penalty for not releasing the ball in the tackle and McHardy duly kicked the penalty to make the half time score 10 points each.

Chinnor, now with the wind at their backs, initially kicked for position and were soon awarded a penalty which Ben Thompson kicked. They then scored a superb try when Jobson ran a penalty from well inside his own half. A long pass from Vaughan put Thompson away who handed onto Simpson who nearly reached the line. Excellent support from the forwards enabled no 8 John Brown to score an important try near the posts. Thompson added the conversion and another penalty goal to complete the scoring for Chinnor. Amersham & Chiltern scored a try wide out in the dying minutes.

For Chinnor, the whole pack played well with Gary Porter back at his best. Vaughan and Jobson linked well at half back with Brett Hopcroft running strongly on the wing.

Chippenham 33 vs. Chinnor 13

Saturday 25th September 1999

Chinnor lost this game either side of half time. Up until then, they were playing composed and disciplined rugby and leading by 13 points to 11, playing into the breeze.

Going into the break they conceded a penalty for an alleged deliberate knock on to go behind right on the half time whistle. Minutes into the second half, Chinnor attacking the Chippenham line, failed to win their own lineout ball and then saw the Chippenham wing sprint 85 metres to score under the posts.

Even then, Chinnor kept attacking but a couple of poor decisions to kick when they had players spare cost them dear.

The score was then given a lop-sided look with Chippenham scoring two late tries to seal the game.

In the first half, a try by Gary Woodburn with a conversion and two penalties by Ben Thompson had put Chinnor in a good position and they must have felt confident with the elements behind them for the second half. Chinnor had difficulty, particularly in the second half, securing their own lineout ball and indeed were out-muscled up front by an aggressive Chippenham pack.

For Chinnor, John Brown had an outstanding game on his return with James Davies working tirelessly in the three-quarters.

Chippenham will be a difficult side to beat at home with their aggressive and uncompromising approach.

Chinnor 20 vs. Stow-on-the-Wold 5

Chinnor continued their positive start to the season with victory against Stow-on-the-Wold. Although they were made to work hard for this win, in the end it was fairly convincing.

The first 25 minutes of the game was a repeat of last week’s game against Salisbury in that they were made to defend resolutely against an aggressive Stow side who took the game to the home side. However, Stow were unable to breach the Chinnor defensive line where the alignment and tackling of the three-quarters stood firm.

Chinnor started to control the game just before half time and it was no surprise that the first score came from a scrummage 5 metres out when pressure from the Chinnor pack allowed no. 8 Rudman to score a pushover try.

Richard John’s influence on his young replacement Adam Hopcroft was most evident in the scrummage and the added power of Gary Porter back for his first game was another plus for Chinnor. Added to the skills of county props Simon Matthews and Gary Woodburn, this gave a real solidity to the Chinnor scrummage.

Within minutes, Brett Hopcroft powerfully broke through the centre from an inside pass from Jobson. He in turn found Ben Thompson on his shoulder to go over for a splendidly worked try under the posts. Jobson added the extra points to give Chinnor a 12 point lead at half time.

Chinnor continued to control the game and threaten the Stow line. A penalty goal by Jobson emphasised the Chinnor superiority and during this period Chinnor went close on a number of occasions only to be thwarted by some spoiling play by the visitors that went unpunished. A score by Stow from a charged down kick brought the score back to 15 points to 5 in Chinnor’s favour. Late on Rudman scored again from the back of the scrummage to increase the Chinnor lead.

Milburn again played well in the lineout, Woodburn foraged tirelessly and Brett Hopcroft was awarded man of the match.

Salisbury 10 vs. Chinnor 39

Chinnor made the best ever start to the League campaign with this emphatic win at Salisbury. Including the substitutes, no fewer than 7 players made their league debuts on Saturday under new captain James Davies. That five of these are 20 years of age or under was also a bonus.

Both Hopcroft twins began the game, Adam hooking, Brett on the right wing along with Ben Thompson, Chinnor's latest recruit from Magdalen College School.

Chinnor took the lead with a well-struck penalty goal from Patrick Jobson making one of his more early appearances for the club at this time of the season. Sustained pressure by Salisbury over a period of 15 minutes saw them go over for a well-deserved try. Chinnor then struck back after a huge kick by Thompson set up a maul with quick release by Vaughan putting Jon Brooks over in the corner. Jobson converted with a delightful kick from the touchline. Excellent approach work by both backs and forwards saw Thompson drift through for the final score of the half with Chinnor 15 – 5 in the lead.

Chinnor took command early in the second half when firstly Vaughan burrowed over followed by three further tries from Pearson, another debutante, Milburn and Matthews with both the latter coming from rolling mauls. Just before the whistle, a very fit Salisbury side added a consolation try.

Adam Hopcroft fitted well into the front row where both Matthews and Woodburn were outstanding; indeed the fitter and leaner Woodburn was undoubtedly man of the match. Milburn operated well in the middle of the lineout; Tinegate foraged well throughout the game with Rudman adding his knowledge and communicative skills to good effect.