Chinnor 1st XV 17
vs. Weston-Super-Mare 1st XV 8
SW League Division One
Saturday 18th March 2006
Chinnor won the toss and gambled on playing into
the strong > easterly wind at Kingsey Road on Saturday in this top
of the table clash against Weston Super Mare. This paid off
handsomely as their well organised defence, with the first up
tackling coming out of the top draw, proving well up to the task. It
was indeed this first half defensive performance that was the key to
this important win. James Hewitt failed to make the starting line-up
with his hamstring failing a late fitness test. The versatile Rewi
Tolich went to full-back with Jamie Hiscock coming in on the wing.
Weston were on the board straight from the
kick-off when fly-half Reid slotted over a penalty for a Chinnor
off-side. It took Chinnor just 5 minutes to rein back this lead when
Matt Buckley wrong footed the Weston defence to score a fine try.
Right on half-time Chinnor added to their score when Sam Soane broke
through to feed Darren Oxley who in turn handed on to Eric Brown who
outpaced the Weston defence to score. This was a killer blow as
Chinnor had the benefit of the strong breeze in the second half.
Chinnor were soon on the score sheet early on in
the second half when Brown's angled run between his centres saw him
sprint 35 metres to go in under the posts. With Buckley adding the
extra points Chinnor had a 14 point cushion and the luxury of the
wind. They should have added to their score but some wrong option
taking allied to delaying the final pass kept the try count to
three. A lack of concentration in the final minutes allowed Hughes
in for a Weston try.
This was a fine Chinnor performance which must be
repeated this Saturday at Weston Super Mare in this back to back
fixture. Should this happen then National League Rugby could well be
the order of the day at Kingsey Road next season.