Not only was this Chinnor Colts first outing of the season, it was also their opening game of the 2005/6 Berks, Bucks and Oxon league.

For the first twenty minutes, Chinnor had shaded possession, whilst the reversal could be said of territorial advantage. It had been hard and intense, focusing mainly upon cagey and steadfast defence by both sides. Then Chinnor pierced the Aylesbury armour by moving the ball out wide quickly, where centre Dan Issac did well to take the tackle before releasing the fleet footed Tim Hughes into the gap that he had created. The outcome was never in doubt as the assassin did what he does best, to ride a despairing tackle behind the try line and make the opening score. Ben Hewitt slotted what was never a gimmee. 0 – 7. A short while later, Hewitt had further chance to kick some points onto the scoreboard and make Aylesbury pay the price for handling in a ruck. Unfortunately, as players and supporters willed the ball over from the long kick, it bounced out off the crossbar.   

The game remained on a tentative knife edge, which featured stout defence from both sides. It was evident though, that some Chinnor players were lagging physically and mentally. They dug deep though and preserved their lead with rigid defence to repost the Aylesbury offence. Then just before half-time, Aylesbury took one against the head just outside the Chinnor fifteen metre line and managed to get one of their centres over under the posts. With the last act before the break, the kicker was struck by misfortune as the ball toppled mysteriously off the tee. Instinctively, he reacted to the presence of the onrushing Brendan Davis to quickly gather the ball and strike a drop kick that went under the bar. 5-7 at the break. 

Come  the second period, it was more of the same and thus fairly even. That was until Aylesbury were awarded a penalty for some inappropriate comment. The penalty led to a kick ahead by Aylesbury, which bobbled without conviction, but decisively, was met with the  indecision of a tired mind. This allowed the ball to run on for a simple score in the corner. The touchline conversion attempt was never going to get near. 10-7 and Aylesbury were now in the lead for the first time.

Chinnor began to push to close the points gap. Their eagerness to make rapid redress would ultimately bite them though. A long miss-pass deep inside the Aylesbury half, which had been thrown to circumvent the cover, was beautifully intercepted and the grateful poacher just had the gas to make the Chinnor line out wide. For the third time, the kicker was unable to bisect the uprights and it remained 15-7.

Aylesbury now had their tails up and following a lineout close in they again got themselves over in the corner to make it 20-7 with another unconverted try.

Coach Rob Hill rang the changes, which were accompanied by a few direct words of comment and guidance. The response of the Chinnor players was one of pride and conviction, as the coach had demanded. The live-wire Ollie Heath moved to fly-half, where his decision making was immediately impactive.

Chinnor responded to his prompting and began to assert some pressure. After Aylesbury had been pinned back in the last fifteen metres, they managed to force their way out, but barely had they drawn breath, when back came the ball in the hands of Tim Hughes. The Aylesbury defence, not unreasonably showed him the touchline. With about two feet to work in, he kicked down his turbo-charger. Disbelief swept around the ground, as he muscled through four aggressive defenders and left them in his wake to surge around under the posts.

There was just sufficient time remaining on the clock for Ollie Heath to drop kick the extra two points before the referee delivered the final blast of his whistle.

Besides the killer instinct of Tim Hughes and the vibrancy of Ollie Heath, back-row forwards Rob Arthur and Ben Sanders particularly caught the eye.

At 20-14 and having conceeded some soft points Chinnor were left to reflect on what might have been had everyone have been fresh.

Next week, Chinnor will contest their second Berks, Bucks and Oxon league match at home to Witney.  

Team: Arthur, Batting, Davis, Grellier, Hare, Heath, Hewitt, Hughes, Lee, Mauger, Maloney, Powell, Rumble, Sanders, Spinks, Issac, Hackshaw, Quadrado and Garrad.