Saturday the 26th saw Chinnor Wildboys travel to Bracknell to face the reigning league Champions. It was a game that Chinnor knew would be one of the toughest fixtures throughout the season and it was not to be made easier with the lack of some key players. Further hinderance was caused by Rob Nichols forcing the Wildboys to get out of bed early and play in the midday sun, by rearranging the fixture to a 1 o’clock kick off.
Some new player stepped into the fold to face the challenge, Tom Hook who was playing his first senior game for Chinnor, George Edward who was a debutante in the black and white of Chinnor and Ben Wilkinson who was playing the first game since the discovery of his rig. George Hope also stepped up to play in second row for the first time.
Chinnor faced the kick off, and whilst the ball was in the air, the trembling of the ground from the oncoming charge was the first sign of the sheer size of the Stags. It was the bulk of the Stag team that shaped their tactics, big crash balls through the middle time and time again saw the Wildboys heroically defending for the majority of the first half. It was the stoicism of the Chinnor defence that saw Bracknell become frustrated at the lack of points in the first 30 minutes and resort to taking a penalty for the first 3 points of the game.
Shortly after the restart the Wildboys were back in their half again, the lack of a winning lineout was taking the toll on any attacking play, and so they continued with their big hitting defence. Eventually the Stags powered over the tryline for their first try of the game. It was converted, making it 10-0 in Bracknell’s favour.
A yellow card for too many team infringements at the breakdown saw George Hope given the chance for a breather as the game went into half time with the score unchanged at 10-0.
The second half burst into life with Chinnor managing to look after the ball at the breakdown and put together a few phases of play. However the big hitting Bracknell remained resolute in their defence and kept the Wildboy’s on 0. For the first 20 minutes of the second half the game remained a similar contest as seen in the first half, big crash balls and big tackles. Another yellow card for one too many penalties saw George White have his turn in the sin bin.
Eventually the fitness of the Bracknell team showed through, Chinnor knew they would struggle to defend for a full 80 minutes and the floodgates began to open. The Stags started to rack up the point and the final score saw them 34 points ahead of Chinnor’s 0.
The Wildboy’s can take a great deal from this fixture, the defence in the first 60 minutes of the game was impressive. There were some missed tackles, but there was not a player left on the pitch who hadn’t made a hit. The fresh faces of George Edward and Tom Hook along with the return of Ben Wilkinson were a welcome sight as they all pulled out top performances. This result sees the Wildboy’s into a two week break before the face Maidenhead II’s, another tough fixture.
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