Newbury 4th XV 0
vs. Chinnor 4th
XV 23
Saturday 29th March 2008
League
Chinnor IV’s travelled to
Newbury this week, their second fixture after the Vernal equinox. With the
local races in full swing, Newbury hosted another set of fine stallions a
few miles down the road. Last weeks game was played under near horizontal
sleet and rain. This week was no Different, apart from the pitch being on an
exposed hill with no cover. To keep the highly tuned thoroughbreds on form,
resident Redcoat, Matt “Billy Elliot” Locke, fresh from the Nirvana club,
went through his regimented warm up routine.
Winning the toss, Chinnor
went with the wind. The first few minutes saw each side test the other as
possession went from one team to the other. Newbury showed some steel with
an attack on our right wing, but were thwarted by a thumping tackle from
Nathan “Webb” Ellis on the wing.
Chinnor then set about
playing in Newbury’s half, pinning the home side back in the strong wind. As
the visitors warmed up, the forwards consisting of Rob “Roy” McLachlan,
“Billy Elliot”, John “Half a” Pound, Mike “Harry Potter” Bambrook, Dave
“Fireball” Hanlon, Tom “Did you” Warner, Adam “Nureyev” Woodliffe and
Gordon “Voldemort” Fennel set about forming an unstoppable pink tank to run
their opponents over, with their pride foremost.
Sustained pressure from
the pink tank forced Newbury into conceding a penalty. Up steps Will “Getya”
Dickinson in the rain to slot 3 points for Chinnor.
Despite a fine covering of
sleet, the pink tank trundled onwards. Minutes later Chinnor were awarded
another penalty nearer in, as the home side became desperate to stop the
advance. Once again “Getya’s” aim was true, 0-6.
Chinnor played out the
remaining half in Newbury’s end, but could not add any more points. The
visitors were retreating once more with Chinnor awarded a scrum inside the
22 when the half time whistle went unexpectedly for the visitors. Now facing
the wind, the back three of Mark “Little” Cox, Pete “Shakespeare” McDermott
and Chris “Webb” Ellis on for his brother Nathan, expected their work cut
out.
With Craig Dalziel “And
Pascoe” on for “Fireball” and Stuart “Burt” Reynolds on for “Did you” the
IV’s were set for the second half. A good team try followed minutes into the
half. Distributing his weight perfectly to give optimum stability in the
strong wind, Mike “Harry Potter” Bambrook tapped down to Johnny “Previn”
Williams who ran on, was caught and formed a ruck with support. In close
support, “Potter” played 9 and popped to “Getya” Dickinson who passed out to
Gordon Voldemort” Fennell in space. “Voldemort” fed Jamie “Um Betty” Spencer
who stepped inside, passed back to “Voldemort” who drew another defender,
passed to new face Andy “Blimeo” Reilly who ran in and touched down in the
corner, 0-13.
Realising the backs had
fired up the Quattro, the pink tank gave them some ball. A thumping tackle
by “Nureyev” Woodliffe, taking a break from his instructional interplay,
allowed “Blimeo” to collect and grub through the defence. Reaching his kick
first, “Blimeo” used his boot once again, collected the ball as it bounced
in the mud and touched down near the posts, 0-18.
The backs were looking
forward to some ball now, but were starved as the home side stepped up and
forced Chinnor into playing a succession of lineout's and scrums inside
their 22. Chinnor would get the ball from the scrum, clear and watch the
ball spin back short in the wind. Eventually “Previn” broke from the base
and ran up the blindside. He side stepped as per the BBC website
instructions and ran on until “Little” Cox screaming in support took a pass
and just managed to out run the defender in pursuit, 0-23.
The final whistle went
minutes later much to everyone’s relief. A game played in good spirits and
quagmire conditions, reminiscent of a Scottish summer. The horizontal wind
and sleet having played havoc with the backs hair all afternoon. The IV’s
entertain the men of Ivan
“The Terrible” Dmytrenko,
Aylesbury III’s at home next, on the 5th.
Scorers:
Tries: Mark "Little" Cox, Andy "Blimeo" Rielly (2), Will
"Getya" Dickinson
Conversions: Will "Getya" Dickinson
Penalties: Will "Getya" Dickinson (2)
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