Cheltenham U17's 22 vs. Chinnor U17's 15
Sunday 6th March 2005
Both teams made their way to Bristol
Grammer School for the purpose of securing a place in the last sixteen
of the National Under 17 Knockout Trophy.
The Chinnor management had arranged
a coach for the twenty man squad, which comprised both under 16 and 17
players. It was to be the third meeting of the two sides this season.
Previously, early in the season, Chinnor had won handsomely at Kingsey
Road, whilst recently, with Chinnor fielding a patched up fifteen,
honours had gone to Cheltenham at their place, by a single point
At 12.30 hours the referee got
things under way with the customary loud blast of a whistle. Cheltenham
came out of the blocks like a whirlwind and were rewarded with a
converted try after only six minutes. 7-0.
Nine minutes later, Chinnor were
level with an excellent try by their hungry and alert centre Tim Hughes,
which was converted by fly-half Ben Hewitt. 7-7.
Within five minutes Chelts were
ahead once more, courtesy an unconverted try. 12-7.
At this point, the Chinnor faithful
were wondering where the startling fluency and desire, so evident
against Cleeve two weeks ago, had gone. They were off the pace and a
distant second in the tight, where their coaches had identified danger
prior to the game. It was explicable then, when Chelts scored a further
unconverted try after twenty-six minutes, to give them a 17-7 lead at
half-time.
After the break, a total of
fifty-one minutes had passed before the next score. Chinnor took three
points, when Ben Hewitt slotted a penalty. 17-10.
Chinnor were dealt a severe blow,
when ace hooker Matt Grellier had to leave the field, after suffering a
dislocated finger. More significant though, was that because Chinnor
were rushed into putting flanker Luke Goddard on as makeshift hooker,
once Grellier had had his finger put back, he was unable to return to
the field of play.
About eight minutes later, disaster
struck, Cheltenham when one of their players sustained a serious leg
injury. Fortunately for him, the referee was a paramedic and commenced
appropriate treatment immediately. Unfortunately for all concerned, an
ambulance was unable to respond as promptly and the game was stopped for
what seemed and eternity in cold conditions. When the referee had
stabilised the injured player, a debate ensued about getting the match
restarted. The referee judged that his priority was to treat the injured
player and as such, he would be unable to take any further part in
officiating the match. He concluded that he should submit the score at
fifty nine minutes, together with an explanation of events to the
organisers. Realising that the next round is scheduled for next week and
predicting the likely decision of the RFU in these unforeseen
circumstances, Chinnor were eager to play out the remaining twenty plus
minutes to achieve a conventional result. Chelts management stated that
they would agree to this, but pointed out that their was no alternative
pitch vacant, even if they could find an alternative suitably qualified
referee. Chinnor personnel went hunting and pounced upon a referee, who
had just blown his whistle to finish another game. Fortunately, he
agreed to assist.
The game eventually resumed in new
hands and ten minutes later, the Chinnor faithful could be forgiven, if
they considered for even a moment, that they had been the architects of
their own downfall, when Cheltenham administered what was to become the
killer blow, with another unconverted try that made it 22-10.
To their credit Chinnor rallied with
a try in the corner by winger Brendan Davis, from which Ben Hewitt could
not contrive the conversion bonus. 22-15. With the clock reading seventy
eight minutes played, it was too little too late though, as the
scoreboard was to remain static.
The honest reflective analysis
required at the top level of Under 17 rugby, shows that the game plan
devised by the coaches was appropriate, with the backs scoring all the
points. It was unfortunate that for a change, the Chinnor forwards were
not able to implement the game plan effectively. Too often they got
sucked into playing the ball tight instead of with width and when it
mattered, there was no instant support. Whilst some of the backs,
namely, Tim Hughes, Neil Mauger and Tom Duffy did sparkle, the entire
team must take responsibility though for a generally lacklustre
performance, which lacked cohesion, when only “the business” would do.
Was it stage fright?
Certainly, there was a feeling that
Chinnor lost this game, rather than Cheltenham won it. Chinnor have the
necessary equipment, but today they didn't use it in the correct way.
The scoreline is always final and disregards perceptions. Lets recognise
and accept what went wrong, come to terms with it and move on. Good luck
to Cheltenham next week.
Thanks go from the Under 17 players
and management to the Under 16 players, who swelled their squad with
talent. Thanks go also to their coaches and parents.
The last chapter for Chinnor in this
year's National Under 17 competition is that they were between the 17th
and 32nd best team in the country, from the 300, who began the quest to
be crowned National Champions 2005.
Squad: Batting, Blewitt, Davis,
Duffy, Goddard, Graydon, Grellier, Heath, Hewitt, Hughes, Hughes-Morgan,
Lee, Maloney, Mauger, Peddie, Powell, Rumble, Sanders, , Stevens and
Wyndham-Smith
