Chinnor Seconds took on probably one of the strongest second fifteen in the country, Rosslyn Park. A team one division higher than Chinnor in the Shield and in their third friendly of the season. Unfortunately for Chinnor they only had fifteen players for the game after losing some of the squad to the 1st XV and many being unavailable to play due to holidays. With four teams from the club playing this weekend all teams were up against it and had to cope with the bare minimum of players.
The game started off well for the Chinnor side with most of the play in the Rosslyn Park 22 metres, but they were unable to initiate a score on the board, and it was Park that scored the first points of the game when Chinnor gave away a penalty. Chinnor came straight back at Park with a forwards drive resulting in captain for the day Andy Millburn who scored the try and eighteen year old Ben Farr converted. In the 15th minute Chinnor added another seven points on the board with a try once again from Andy and a conversion from Ben, resulting in a well deserved lead for Chinnor at 14 points to 3. It took Park some time to get their first well worked converted try through the centre and Chinnor came back with a penalty by Ben Farr and the first half finished with Chinnor the deserved lead of 17 points to 10.
The second half started with Park bringing on six strong players with fresh legs and the pressure started to tell with Chinnor having no one to call on. Park got their rewards with the new players and scored their second converted try in the 6th minute and after thirty minutes into the second half were leading 37 points to 17. Chinnor made two basic errors towards the end of the game, running into trouble that resulted in losing the ball and finally a charged down kick ending the game with a finishing score of 49 points to 17. The score line is not a reflection of the game and the high tempo it was played at or how committed this team was. Chinnor can be very happy with the result against such a strong team from London.
Man of the match could be any one of these players, Andy Millburn led the pack, James Hewitt marshalled the back line (something the seconds have needed for the last three years), Ben Farr kicked beautifully, Ben Sander tackled everything that moved and Jon Lavin got over the advantage line every time he touched the ball with Sam Blewitt awesome in the lineout. Everyone played their part and should be mentioned by name.