CHINNOR continued to lay the foundations for next season as they battled hard in a physical adapted laws contest at Rams.

With spectators allowed under Step 3 of the government’s roadmap, there was a great atmosphere at a rain-soaked Old Bath Road.

Both sets of supporters were treated to a real arm-wrestle which included a sprinkling of magic across two halves of 35 minutes.

For our Senior Squad it was an opportunity for them to test themselves against a National League 1 counterpart as we continue our development process heading into the 2021/22 season.

Dan Brady, Ollie Smith, Jack Walsh, Bradley Harewood, Conor Brockschmidt and Max Heathman were all handed their first starts in a Chinnor jersey.

And there was, once again, a strong contingent of homegrown players with a third of Director of Rugby, Richard Thorpe’s 31-man squad either coming through our youth section or previously playing for the Wildboys and Outlaws.

Rams enjoyed the early territory and possession, with Brockschmidt and George Grose putting in a couple of big early hits. The home crowd were able to celebrate the first try of the day in the fourth minute, though, as one of their locks drove over from close range for an unconverted score.

Chinnor’s reaction was impressive and Ollie Smith thought he had dotted down in the corner after brilliantly catching the ball just inches off the ground, but Kieran Goss’ pass was adjudged to have gone forward.

We continued to keep Rams in their own half, building pressure, and it paid off on 16 minutes when we sucked the hosts in before spreading wide where Grose glided through a gap to dive over. Nick Smith added the extras to make it 7-5.

Rams looked to hit back and our defence needed to be on the money, with Ryan Lomas and Brockschmidt starring with a number of notable shots. However, they took a 12-7 lead when, following a lineout, a lovely line from one of their locks saw him run in under the posts for a converted try in the 22nd minute.

They could have added to their tally ten minutes later, but a try from their winger was correctly disallowed following a knock-on in an aerial battle with Brady.

We were forced to defend for the rest of the half and in virtually the last play of the first period, another close range try was converted for a 19-7 lead at the break.

Chinnor were still well in the contest, but they now faced a refreshed opposition with Rams putting out a different XV for the second 35 minutes.

Unfortunately, the hosts extended their lead to 19 points straight from the kick-off and with Walsh sent to the sin-bin, they made the extra man count to make it 33-7 after 49 minutes.

Despite being a man down, we stood up to the test and did not concede again while down to 14. The majority of the matchday squad all enjoyed valuable game time and we threatened to reduce the deficit, but unfortunately handling errors proved costly in difficult conditions.

Both sides were guilty of that, however the hosts went on to score two tries in the last three minutes, showcasing some delightful offloads, to extend their advantage.

The scoreline was a little harsh, but Chinnor would have again learnt a lot from the contest. These adapted laws friendlies are part of a building process for next season and the players will be better for it.

We now look forward to welcoming our Chinnor Family back to Kingsey Road next Saturday as we sign off the 2020/21 season with the home leg of this double-header with Rams.

Chinnor: Goss, Brady, Grose, Titchener, O Smith, N Smith, Walsh, Harewood, Austin, Lomas, Iancu, Brockschmidt, Manning, Heathman, Whitehurst.
Reps: Trialist, Tonga’uiha, Lavin, Gilbert, Fleckney, Hope, Brewer, Trialist, Inman, Ham, Scott, Trialist, Ford, Heath, Wilson, Charlton.