Four from four at home

Chinnor Seconds Match Report for 8th October 2011
Chinnor Seconds vs. Barnes RFC
Chinnor Seconds welcomed Barnes RFC London, another club whose first team are in National 2. Another tough game in this very competitive and strong league that we play in, and the team knew that we would have to play at their very best to be in with a chance.
Having the return of the reliable back row, Ben Ramsdale, Nick Harrison and Ed Rixon Chinnor were able to have the muscle to hold their own. Conditions too were improved playing in average weather conditions, 14c instead of the 28c last week. From the kick off it was all Chinnor for the first 15 minutes, until a clearance kick up field which saw Barnes attack the Chinnor line for the next 15 minutes and Barnes then had the upper hand, but thanks to the great Chinnor defence with Nick Harrison, Ben Hackshaw, Ben Ramsdale, Ken Prinsloo and Guy Hackshaw to name but a few Barnes were unable to score. In Attack Ramsdale, Rixon, Harrison and Hackshaw were awesome. The Chinnor forwards more than held their own in the rucks and mauls and were the better side, but in the scrum Barnes was big and a well drilled unit. Chinnor battled through when Nathan Humphreys was injured and unable to push with his injured shoulder, and the Barnes scrum was able to take advantage by driving Chinnor backwards. As a testament to the game and the talent on the pitch the score remained zero at half time. The second half started in the same way as the first with the play from both teams playing o text book rugby. Having to have treatment on his shoulder Nathan could only manage ten minutes before having to retire and sadly Chinnor had to resort to uncontested scrums for the very first time since joining this league a few years ago. Both teams had opportunities of scoring but the outstanding defence on both sides prevented it up until the 55th minute when Jack Green broke the dead lock with a successful penalty. Shortly after Guy Hackshaw intercepted a pass and ran the length of the pitch to score under the posts which was converted by Jack Green making it 10 points to 0. Alex (Woody) Woodhouse then followed with a try after some good team play. Just before the final whistle Trevor Powell broke the line and ran 50 metres to score. (If anyone had seen him at the Beer-fest the night before they would never have believed it) Chinnor ran out winners by 20 points to 0.This was a great team effort after the disappointment of last week and the boys were well up for it, selecting the man of the match in this team is always difficult and this week is not different but, this week it goes to Nick (Grizzo) Harrison. Chinnor would like to thank the Barnes Team for making the game so enjoyable and tough the score does not reflect the game it was a lot closer than that. And game was enjoyed and appreciated by all watching.
Walter McGuicken
Second Team Manager