Chinnor 1st XV 48
vs. Cheltenham 1st XV 8
Saturday 8th January 2005
South West Division One
Chinnor were
forced to make five changes (4 substitutional and one positional) from
their original selection due to illness and injury. With Winpenny,
Millburn and Hewitt all coming in from the bench, Pearson making his
first appearance of the season and the versatile Mike Cook taking over
the hooking duties it was a different looking outfit that took the field
at Kingsey Road on Saturday.
Surprisingly,
Cheltenham on winning the toss, elected to play with the gusting wind at
their backs. It was James Hewitt who set the tone straight from the
kick-off when he fielded a high ball , ran strongly through several
tackles setting Chinnor on the offensive. Sensibly they kept the game
tight, playing the ball through their forwards in the initial stages.
When eventually they spun the ball wide they were rewarded when Darren
Oxley shimmied though the Cheltenham defence and with Joe Winpenny up in
support to pick up and dive over for the first try Chinnor got the start
they needed.
Cheltenham struck
back almost immediately with a penalty by Lewis and a well worked try by
flanker James McMahon. At this stage Chinnor would have settled for an
8pts to 5 deficit half time score with the elements in their favour in
the second half. However some delightful breaks by James Cathcart and
Cameron Shaw put Chinnor close with Zane Winslade and Richard Grimsdell
up in support being hauled down just close to the line. Grimsdell then
touched down in the corner following a combined move between forwards
and backs and with Shaw touching down under the posts and Cathcart
converting, this was icing on the cake for Chinnor knowing they were
playing with the wind in the second half.
Obviously Chinnor
would now use the wind to their advantage during the second and this
they did with telling effect. Cathcart put up some booming kicks to test
the Cheltenham defence. This effectively put pressure on Cheltenham as
they were unable to clear their lines by kicking into the strong wind.
Consequently they were forced to run the ball out of defence which
eventually led to error. Tries by Matthews, Winslade and Shaw who took a
delayed pass from Cathcart to carve a great angle and score under the
posts. The final try was from Oxley who collected his own neat chip to
go over emphasised Chinnor's superiority at this stage. With Cathcart
converting 4 of these tries interspersed with a penalty Chinnor recorded
their most emphatic win of the season.
Leon Jacobs once
again put his stamp on the game with a fine all-round display. This
likeable and competitive scrum half will be missed as he returns to
Stellenbosch to resume his studies. Chinnor were also well served James
Cathcart and Cameron Shaw with Zane Winslade Mr. perpetual motion at the
back of the scrum and Joe Winpenny who played well in both the tight and
the loose.
REPORT FROM IATC FOLLOWS:
Chinnor 48 (Tries: Shaw 2, Oxley, Grimsdell,
Matthews, Winpenny, Winslade. Cons: Cathcart 5. Pen: Cathcart.)
Cheltenham 8 (Try: McMahon. Pen: Lewis.)
Chinnor make it
four wins and a draw in their last five league matches and are up to
fifth place in the league table whilst Cheltenham’s loss of form
continues with a fourth consecutive defeat.
Prop Joe Winpenny got the home side
off the mark in the 12th minute with a try which went
unconverted. Cheltenham responded well and with a Peter Lewis penalty
and a try from flanker James McMahon they were ahead on 23 minutes.
Winger Richard Grimsdell gave the
home side the lead again on 29 minutes and four minutes later it was
17-8 with centre Cameron Shaw going over for a try and James Cathcart
converted.
The second half was one way traffic with Chinnor running
in five tries and 31 points. Shaw went on to complete a double whilst
Cathcart finished the match with 13 points converting five of the tries
and slotting over a penalty goal.
