Sunday 4th October saw the Chinnor Minis take a number of teams to Henley for their festival of rugby including two teams from U12. The weather was good at the kids were really fired up for their first fixture of the season.

I spent the day following the Chinnor Falcons whilst the Chinnor Kites went to battle in another pool group.

Reportedly the Kites did really well and did us all proud as per usual. Some great team work and some outstanding performances lead to some very close fought matches.

Chinnor Falcons:

James Lloyd (C)
Max Muncaster (C)
Luke Forrest (C)
Max Dolphin
Jack Hawkins
Charlie Crabbie
Oscar Bullivant
Olly Philpott
Thomasz Zycowicz
Luke Wills
Henry Turner
Llestyn Walsh

The Falcons started their pool group off with a faceoff against Henley; yes the healthy rivalry does indeed get carried through even at this small level. It was a closely fought and defensive match with both teams showing huge amounts of determination. After a scoreless first half both teams were hungry to take the lead. Chinnor defence was outstanding under the Henley dominance including Charlie and Max D's valiant effort in holding the ball up to deny them a try. The break came with a fantastic interception by Max M followed by a strong run down the wing to put the ball down in the corner. Chinnor protected this narrow lead and were visibly elated when the whistle blew for full time. Chinnor 1 - Henley 0

Our next opponents were Tring, another team the boys had faced before. This match was completely different from the first with Chinnor dominating from the start and tries rolling in throughout. The match saw Charlie Crabbie and his legs score four along with one from a penalty from Max D and Olly Philpott putting the ball over the line with a driving maul. Chinnor 6 - Tring 0

Under the watchful eye of Will Greenwood Chinnor next took on his son and Marlow. Good scrumaging and team play from the boys saw Chinnor with their third victory of the day. Chinnor 3 - Marlow 0

The final match was billed to be a show down since our opponents London Welsh had also won all games to this point. It was an energetic start with Chinnor driving forward, A great offload from Max D set Luke Forrest up for a try in the corner. There was some good defence from our boys in the face of some aggressive attack from London Welsh. Great passing saw Charlie Crabbie cross the line followed by Lloydy running two thirds of the pitch to secure try number 3. The second half started solidly for Chinnor with a well worked team try being put down by Max D. London Welsh came back with two well earned tries before full time to leave the final score Chinnor 4 - London Welsh 2.

The boys showed class during their presentation ceremony and did us proud all day with their effort, enthusiasm and conduct. Oh and they made a name for themselves with Sky Sports news, telling the reporter exactly what they thought of the England performance the night before!

WELL DONE CHINNOR U12!