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Chinnor 1st XV 42 vs. Clevedon 1st XV 0
Saturday 1st October 2005
Powergen SW Division One

On sunny afternoon peppered with light showers, Chinnor once again thrilled a large home crowd with a 42 – 0 win over North Somerset’s Clevedon. This win put Chinnor at the top of the South West Division 1 table, their highest ever position in league rugby.

Chinnor began their scoring after 3 minutes when Chinnor fly half Williams scored his first penalty goal of the afternoon when Clevedon were adjudged to have dived over a ruck. The Chinnor pack drove the ball several times in the Clevedon 22 and then released the backs, with full back Matt Buckley joining the line to dot down Chinnor’s first try of the afternoon. Williams converted. Clevedon fought to get back into the match but could not breach the Chinnor midfield defence, marshalled superbly by Oxley and Tolich, although Clevedon full back Lowis made several wholehearted attempts. A period of driving and rucking by the Chinnor forwards led to a simple passing movement allowing Eric Brown to score his first try of the day. Williams missed the conversion and Chinnor led by 15-0.

The Chinnor pack had the upper hand in their tussles with the Clevedon forwards and their good work released ball to centre Darren Oxley close by the touchline. A step inside, rapid acceleration, followed by a dummy and step inside by the Chinnor centre led to an impressive 40 metre try between the posts. Williams duly converted to give Chinnor a 22-0 lead. After a long driving maul, Clevedon lost the ball which led to a run out of defence by left winger Brown. He out sprinted the Clevedon backs from his own 22 metre line to score Chinnor’s fourth try under the posts. Sadly for Clevedon, the referee Mr Penfold from Dorset missed the obvious knock-on by Chinnor’s Williams which gifted the ball to Brown. Williams converted to give Chinnor a 29-0 half time lead.

The game changed significantly in the second half. Clevedon found new resolve and camped in the Chinnor 22 for almost 20 minutes and put the home forwards and backs under continual pressure. Chinnor held on by the skin of their teeth to avoid a score. A missed penalty kick by Clevedon’s Hawkes was scant reward for prolonged Clevedon territorial and possession advantage. Clevedon kept hold of the ball for lengthy periods of time and a series of punishing scrums by Clevedon got them close to the Chinnor line only for Chinnor’s left winger Hoogstander to sprint away with the ball to lead to touch in the Clevedon half. For such pressure play, Clevedon deserved some sort of score but Chinnor wouldn’t budge.

Chinnor replaced two of their forwards and worked their way back into the match. Williams scored another penalty goal. Minutes later, after good approach work by his forwards and a one-handed scoop pass from scrum half Thompson, Williams danced through Clevedon’s blind side to score Chinnor’s fifth try, which he duly converted. Clevedon came back and continued to attack Chinnor. Their hearts were broken when, 20 metres from the Chinnor line, they lost the ball. Chinnor’s young scrum half Thompson gathered the ball and kicked it down the park. He duly won the foot race to touch the ball down for Chinnor’s sixth try. The conversion was missed  and shortly afterwards the final whistle was blown for a 42-0 victory to Chinnor.

With 17 points, Chinnor’s fly half Williams caught the eye but the Chinnor captain and no 8, Paul Hennessy, with barnstorming runs and resolute defence was awarded man of the match. The midfield defence of Darren Oxley and Rewi Tolich was key to this handsome victory. Clevedon fly half Dan Hawkes impressed with his full range of kicks. Clevedon were much better than the score line suggests but the style of the Chinnor victory bodes well for the rest of the season.

Scorers: Chinnor – Tries Buckley, Brown (2), Oxley, Williams, Thompson; Conversions – Williams (3); Penalties – Williams (2)

Teams:
Chinnor: Buckley, Hoogstander (Hiscock 69), Tolich, Oxley, Brown, Williams, Thompson, Winpenny, Immelmann, Devine (Lee 61), Hutchins, Millburn (Rixon 69), Cook, Brooks, Hennessy (c)
Clevedon: Lowis, Dalera, Thie, O’Rourke, Johns, Hawkes, Filby, Tucker (c), Morgan, Stone, Pearce, McMillan, Barnes, Shopland, Rawle
Referee: Mr Stephen Penfold (Dorset)