Chinnor 4th XV 7
vs. Hungerford 1st XV 31
Saturday 24th November 2007
Berks/Bucks & Oxon Division 2 South
Chinnor IV’s stepped out onto a
frozen pitch on a bleak November afternoon this week. Hosting league leaders
Hungerford, Chinnor would be tested on all fronts. They would be under the
watchful eye of Keith “Who me Sir?” Cannock, now pursuing a career as a
professional referee.
In sterling form, the charge was
led by our glorious ringmaster, Gordon “Voldemort” Fennell. Who from the
kick off, caught the ball, off loaded to Mike “Harry Potter” Bambrook to set
up Chinnor’s first play. Both sides tested their mettle for the first 10
minutes, as play went from end to end. After some breakaway running from
Rupert “The Bear” Turnball, a hole opened up between “The Bear” and Will
“Getya” Dickinson. Chinnor, lined up in attack were quickly turned over by
Hungerford, who kicked through and with a lucky bounce touched down under
the posts, 0-7.
Not bothered by this breakaway
score, Chinnor persisted with their solid play, keeping Hungerford at bay.
Hungerford had possession on their 10m line. They span the ball out to their
youthful backs, who under pressure from Gavin “Arfur” Williams and “The
Bear”, spilled a pass, where “Arfur picked up and touched down under the
posts, 7-7.
Testing Chinnor with high kicks,
Chinnor in the main, received well through Andy “Moaning Mertyle” Heley and
Pete “Shakespeare” McDermott. As the first half drew to its conclusion, the
score remained level, not to the great expectations of Hungerford. The
second half saw some good play from Chinnor. A breakdown found Shane “Big
cook, Little cook” Ellis sell a half dummy to make a break, then into
contact. The resulting ruck saw “Shoes” Halson take a short pass, onto
“Moaning Mertyle” Heley then onto Rob “Andrew” Atkin, who in turn gave a
wide pass to “Voldemort” Fennel. “Voldemort” drew his man, passed to “Arfur”
Williams who in turn gave a neat backhand pass back to “Voldemort”. Chinnor
made very good ground through these moves but were unable to add points.
Hungerford on the other hand,
kept the pressure on. Taking advantage of any small chink in the Chinnor
armour, they stole through to add more scores. Another good passage of play,
saw Will “Getya” Dickinson dummy a kick in his own 22, break the defence and
hurtle up field with just the Hungerford full back to beat. With “Voldemort”
in close support, the last try-scoring pass went awry. The Chinnor front row
of Terry “And June” Chappell, Mike “Sippy” Hughes and Rob “Scabbers” Hill
held their own against their opposite numbers. With the usual Chinnor
lineout not delivering its normal amount of ball, the Chinnor backs found
themselves on the defence more than attack. In what could be described as an
enjoyable game, Chinnor found themselves against an ever mounting score.
Matt “Billy” Elliott Locke had
defined the position of flanker, adapting his normal position in the front
row. From being an experienced hooker, “Billy Elliott” became the complete
flanker. Commenting after the game, “Billy Elliott” felt he had played a
good game, when asked to comment, he said “I played a good game”.
Chinnor continue their league
battle away to Littlehampton next week.
Scorers:
Tries: Gavin "Arfur" Williams, Will "Getya" Dickinson
Conversions: Will "Getya" Dickinson
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