The weather was perfect, but for the firm breeze, which Chinnor felt bristling in their faces as they fanned across the park awaiting the opposition outside – half to put boot to ball to start the game. When the match commenced it was evident that although they were working, Chinnor lacked cohesion and consistent bite. Some players were also suffering from Saturday blues. Never the less, they spent the first five minutes in the ascendancy, pushing Stortford back on their heels and into their own twenty-two.

Stortford then rose up and stole the initiative, as Chinnor were superior in the scrum, but inferior in the lineout.  Aided by some sympathetic refereeing and a full repertoire of professional gamesmanship, Stortford got themselves in front with a converted try and a successful penalty in quick succession.

A short while later, a further penalty made it 13-0. They later added a second converted try as Chinnor were seeking to get back into the game. Some excellent offensive Chinnor pressure prompted a despairing thump down field by Storts from outside their own twenty-two. This resulted in the ball carrying straight out down by the Chinnor twenty-two. The partisan crowd went quiet to express their disappointment, which was suddenly changed to jubilation, when the home touch judge signalled exactly where he had seen the ball bounce out. Needless to say, as these things have a habit of doing, this field position was key to Storts scoring a further converted try to take a 20-0 lead with halftime approaching.

During the break, some harsh words were said along with a number of substitutions and positional switches being made by stand-in coach Steve Halson. That action was to have a profound effect on the game. A buoyant Stortford soon found themselves back on their heels and penned in their own twenty-two, where they were to remain for the next very eventful twenty five minutes, during which Chinnor pounded the Storts line incessantly. During that period, Chinnor’s Ben Hewitt scuffed a penalty kick and Stortford conceded in excess of ten penalties, most within five metres of their line. Desperate not to concede, they handled in the rucks, went off their feet, in at the side and illegally used the boot. Chinnor were within touching distance of the line when penalties were conceded to combat their power. One of those resulted in a yellow card, as indeed should have one other. However, most importantly, no points materialised. Given the length of the sustained pressure, its proximity to the try line and the calculated measures employed by the opposition, it was an amalgam of frustration and bemusement, which raised the question why does the penalty try law exist?

Stortford emerged from the game with a clean sheet, but if Chinnor had turned up with the same organisation, commitment and bite that they showed in the second half, the score could have been significantly different.

Team:  Arthur, Batting, Bishop, Blewitt, Davis, Duffy, Garrod, Grellier, Hackshaw, Heath, Hewitt, Hiscock, John, Mauger,  Sanders, Stock, Spinks Thompson and Williams.