Chinnor maintained their undefeated home record against Bournemouth in convincing style scoring six tries in a 43-22 victory.

With Cathcart still out injured, Millett continued at fly half and last year’s player of the year, Alex Waddingham, returned to the squad after his heroic exploits in the recent varsity match at Twickenham.

Chinnor opened their afternoon’s tally in the 5th minute with a try from Frank Jones in the corner after a delightful backhand pass from skipper Winpenny. The match settled into a rhythm with Bournmouth focussed on battering a path through midfield and Chinnor phasing play to create opportunity for their backs. Millet was sin binned for illegally interfering with play as penalty goals were traded through the middle part of the half to give Chinnor a slender 8-3 lead. The game exploded in the 31st minute when a long downfield kick was fielded wide on the left hand Chinnor 22 by Colver. He immediately set the ball travelling at pace across the backs for Goode to touchdown in the corner. Colver then completed the move with a difficult conversion kick from the touchline to give Chinnor a 15-3 lead.

Five minutes later, Bournemouth’s No 8, Booth, crashed over from the base of a penalty scrum to reduce the visitor’s deficit to 15-8 at halftime.

Chinnor came out in the second half full of pace and intensity. Straight from the kick off, Bournemouth conceded a penalty. A rapid backs passing move saw Fielding glide over in the corner for his first try of the afternoon and a Chinnor lead of 20-8, improved by another difficult conversion from Colver for a 22-8 lead. A few minutes later, a smart dummy by Jones allowed the rampaging Mowbray a dash to the line for another try. Colver stepped up to increase the lead to 29-8. Bournemouth stuck to their midfield centred game plan but met stout resistance especially when Waddingham joined the fray.

On the 52nd minute, Chinnor conceded the softest of ties. Having stoutly defended on the line against a ferocious Bournemouth attack, Chinnor managed to turn the ball over for a 5 metre scrum. However, no-one but Bournemouth’s ever alert scrum half Sam Hardcastle, noticed the ball squirt out from the back of the scrum over the try line. Hardcastle trotted around unopposed for the simple touchdown. Pollard converted to make the score 29-15 in favour of the home side.

In the 55th minute, a passing movement of the highest order began by the increasingly influential Millett and involving several players was expertly finished by Hales with a sparkling try under the posts. Millett’s conversion stretched the lead to 36-15. Chinnor’s purple patch continued when another high speed passing movement saw Fielding again glide through the opposition for his second try. Millett converted to put the lead at 43-15 on the 60th minute. Bournemouth continued to press and after a 5 minute high intensity attack, were rewarded with a try from Connolly on the 77th minute. Pollard’s conversion made the final score 43-22 to the Oxfordshire boys.

Bournemouth played a high intensity physical game through their forwards with No 8, Booth, particularly prominent. Chinnor’s defence was more than up to the task and resisted well. The difference between the sides was in the backs. Chinnor had the time created by their forwards to utilise pace, fluidity and high quality passing for some spectacular scores. Millett grew in stature throughout the game and sparked some excellent moves. Fielding was graceful in attack and tigerish in defence. They were the youngest on the pitch.

Scorers:
Chinnor: Jones T; Fielding 2T; Goode T; Mowbray T; Hales T; Colver 3C, PG; Millett 2C
Bournemouth: Booth T; Hardcastle T; Connolly T; Pollard 2C, PG

Chinnor team:
Colver (Gray 53), Fielding, Goode (Hopwood 61), Stoop, Hales, Millett, Jones, Winpenny (Stock 67), Holyland, Berry (Pickett 53), Hughes (Waddingham 40), Smith, Mowbray, Sawyer, Gilbert
Replacements: Stock, Pickett, Waddingham, Hopwood, Gray