Gosford All
Blacks 12 vs. Chinnor 4th XV 28
Saturday 23rd February 2008
Friendly
Chinnor
IV’s travelled to Gosford All Blacks this week, in a friendly fixture. The
game was set on the windswept plains of Kidlington. Gosford were boosted by
Chinnor old boy, Marcus ‘Slick” Stevens playing at 8. While the home side
was coached by another Chinnor old boy, Nathan Brook “Shields”. The IV’s
had their work cut out. Chinnor themselves were boosted by Guy “Junior”
Hackshaw, Rowan “Ena” Foster, Sam “Fuh” Ludgate and Charlie “Lady” McBeth.
The
visitors started well, but after 5 minutes Rowan “Ena” Foster came off
because of suspected food poisoning after excess spam. The next 10 minutes
saw the visitors with most possession and territory, but conceding a penalty
inside their 10m line, Chinnor were found napping and allowed Gosford in
with a soft try to take the home side ahead, 7-0.
The IV’s
quickly responded. With good support and hands from “BishBashBosh” Bishop,
Joe “Wilson” Pickett, and Charlie “Lady McBeth, Chinnor made yards into the
Gosford half. The final pass found Guy “Junior” Hackshaw who touched down
next to the posts. The pressure was starting to tell, as “BishBashBosh” hit
the upright with the conversion, 7-5.
The
Chinnor defence settled after the initial lapse. Gosford made some nicely
angled kicks, keeping Mark “Little” Cox and Matt “Billy Elliot” Locke busy
on the wings. “Billy” went on to expand his positional repertoire and
demonstrate his usual skill level in his new position.
Now
working more as a unit, Chinnor started to work more efficiently. Loose play
in the Gosford half saw a swift pass flicked out from Andy “Swallow” Heley
to “Lady” McBeth who ran up the line, passed back inside to “Fuh” Ludgate
who drove on. A ruck was formed and “Junior” Hackshaw picked and darted
blind to add 5 points, 7-10.
Gosford
kept the Chinnor back three busy with more neat chips. These were collected
by Pete “Shakespeare” McDermott, who then danced around the attackers as if
they were imaginary constructs.
The
second half saw changes on both sides. ”Shoes” on for “Billy” and John
“Bean” Cann for Rob “Roy” McLachlan after sterling work.Keeping to the same
efficient play, Chinnor were awared a penalty on the Gosford 22.
“BishBashBosh” slotted the ball over nicely.
Gosford
were not lying down and attacked the visitors. Moving initially up route 1,
then spinning the ball right then left they managed a good score in the
corner. The game was warm before, and was now really hotting up.
Playing
in Gosfords' half, using a “miracle” ball, Chinnor took a line out through
Mike “Harry Potter” Bambrook, who leapt salmon like at 2 to catch and pop
the ball to Tony “Arfur” Daley in one fluid motion. The on form “Arfur” then
broke two tackles shimmying and doing the hokey cokey, until with two
players hanging off him he touched down next to the touchline, to end an
awesome forwards try.
The last
few minutes ticked away until the referee blew for full time after more
stout Chinnor defence just kept the home side out at the last. A good
performance by the regular IV’s faces. Adam “Nureyev” Woodliffe tackled well
in the loose. Richard “Jabba the” Hutt had another great game stealing ball
in the lineout and again in the loose. Mark “Little” Cox played out of his
skin on the wing. The IV’s were ably coached by still injured Captain,
Gordon “Voldemort” Fennell and possible future Captain, Will “Getya”
Dickinson. Who both talked a good game from the sideline.
The IV’s
face Phoenix II’s away next week in their bid to climb even higher in the
league.
Scorers:
Tries: "BishBashBosh" Bishop, Guy "Junior" Hackshaw (3), Tony
"Arfur" Daley
Conversions: "BishBashBosh" Bishop
Penalties: "BishBashBosh" Bishop (2)
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