Caldy 28 Chinnor 36
Chinnor produced a highly accomplished and professional performance both sides of the ball to extend their winning streak to 4 matches in the Wirral on Saturday. Knowing that it’s always going to be a physical and tough encounter against the Ravens, especially when the team were celebrating the 350th appearance for their talismanic Captain JJ Dickinson, Chinnor produced their best all round performance of the season to come away with 5 points, the first team to do so at Paton Field this season.

Chinnor’s performance was based on a powerful set piece foundation and it was apt that 4 tries would be shared between front rowers Ramaz Rukhadze and Chris Moore, each with a brace. The backs came to the party when the impressive Tom Watson hit a lovely angle and outpaced the cover to claim Chinnor’s 4 try bonus point in the 32nd minute.
Chinnor started the game with real pace and intensity which was rewarded in the 2nd minute when Ramaz showed great strength to power over, George Worboys converted 0-7. Caldy responded well and put pressure on Chinnor’s exit. The Raven’s scrum half Wynn pounced on a mistake and sprinted clear to equal the scores with a Wilkinson conversion. This set back was exacerbated by a nasty leg injury to Grant Hughes, who will now unfortunately face a long period on the sidelines.

Chinnor immediately pressed again and looked to have extended the lead after a fine break from Joe Brock saw Keiron Goss scoot over, however the final pass was adjudged forward and play was called back. Chinnor did not have to wait long though, a Tom Watson break took play close and this time the final scoring pass was deliberately knocked forward by Wilkinson. A yellow card and penalty but no penalty try. However the kick to corner was won by the dominant Jamie Campbell and Ramaz notched his second from the driving maul, Worboys converted 7-14 after 17 minutes.

The ping pong nature of the game continued as again Chinnor failed to deal with the restart which eventually led to Hearn opening his account, 14-14.
A nicely judged kick from Worboys put Caldy under pressure and a powerful driving maul saw Moore notch his first, 14-21. Chinnor were really motoring and playing some really effective rugby with the midfield looking dangerous on the platform of quick ball. They managed to go 2 scores up for the first time in the game when Watson took advantage of a clever Worboys pass and dived in at the corner, 14-26 on 32 minutes.

Caldy again attacked and spent the remainder of the first stanza in Chinnor’s 22. They opted for penalty scrums on several occasions. However, Chinnor’s scrum was too solid and the defence round the fringes was excellent, when Caldy eventually decided to spread play Sam Hanks snuffed out the danger with a superb tackle.

The Ravers started the second half with real intent and a clever chip from Wilkinson was snapped up by the lively Ene who scored under the posts , 21-26. This time it was Chinnor’s turn to immediately hit back, a lightening break out of defence from Toby Cousins took play to deep inside Caldy’s 22. From the resulting penalty Moore got his second of the day cruising over from an unstoppable driving maul, 21-33.

Yet again Caldy struck back almost immediately when Hearn got his second and Caldy had their 4 try bonus point. After a rapid exchange of tries in the first 15 minutes of the second half this was surprisingly the last time the whitewash was crossed but Caldy had narrowed the lead to 26-33.
Chinnor then showed really good game management as their set piece increasingly dominated and a break from Gabriel Mann gave Worboys the opportunity to extend the lead from the tee. 26-36. Chinnor continued with their territorial domination and with a time ticking away a couple of powerful scrums close to Caldy’s line would eat up the clock and keep Caldy away from mounting a last ditch attack.

Nick Easter “ That is the best we have played all season, our ball retention was excellent and we had the required patience when we got into the redzone. We have worked hard on these aspects of our game and it was pleasing to see this hard work pay off. The majority of our defensive work was excellent but we must improve our exits and we can’t be happy at leaking 4 tries.” It would be fair to say the travelling support was more than happy and it was a contented coach load that made the long journey back to Oxfordshire.

Chinnor- Rukhadze, Moore, Hardwick, Brockschmidt, Campbell, Dugmore, Stokes, Mann, Carter ©, Worboys, Goss. Watson, Hanks, Hughes, Brock.
Replacements- Owen, Walker, Porter, Hall, Carr, Pascoe, Bourton, Cousins.
Tries- Rukhadze x2, Moore x2, Watson
Cons- Worboys x4
Pen- Worboys

Report John Vaughan

Next game Friday 5th Dec Kingsey Road vs Nottingham 7:45pm KO.