Both teams knew the importance of the game to set up the season so the degree of intensity at the start was not surprising.
It was Henley who applied the early pressure with Chinnor endeavouring to play some expansive rugby to clear their lines. They were playing against the wind so this was a sensible approach.
The game opened up when Bentley made a clever break before putting in a well judged chip ahead for Phil Chesters to win the chase to the touch down after just 2 minutes, Bentley failed with the conversion.
Play then became a little frenetic before Henley replied with a penalty from some 35 metres by Connor Murphy. This was swiftly followed by a powerful surge from the Henley pack resulting in Harry Burn scoring with Murphy adding the extras. A trademark Kieran Goss try under the posts put Chinnor back in front
At this time Chinnor were looking quite potent with ball in hand resulting in Henry Lamont scoring with his first touch of the ball after replacing the injured Phil Chesters. After a lull in proceedings another delightful move saw Orisi Nawaqaliva touch down close to the posts on the stroke of half time , with Bentley adding the extras this gave Chinnor a half time lead of 26 - 13.
The second half began with Chinnor opting to kick for goal with Jonny Bentley slotting over two penalties. Jamel Hamilton then made his mark by setting up Will Bordill ( picture above) to once again go under the posts for Chinnor. Interchanges then become commonplace with Henley beginning to become dominant up front. It was no surprise when towards the end of the game the referee awarded Henley a penalty try following a succession of infringements by the Chinnor scrum.
This was hard fought game played in a good spirit with maybe the score not totally reflecting the flow of the game with Henley having territorial domination
Peter Davies Henley coach commented “Enjoyed the day. Game played in a good spirit. Difference between the sides was at half back. We left 3 scores on the paddock. Their line breaks were clinical."
Matt Williams said “With the ball in hand we looked dangerous. Our defence was top drawer."
Star Man Chinnor No 9 Greg Goodfellow
Chinnor
Tries Chesters 2
Goss 21
Lamont 32
Nawaqaliva 39
Bordill 63
Cons Bentley 22,33,39,64
Pens Bentley 47,50
Yellow Card Manning 64
Henley
Tries Burn 18
Penalty Try 79
Cons Murphy 19
Pens Murphy 9,24
Referee Mr Richard Haughton
Attendance 843
Article by Ken Vaughan