On what was one of the wettest and windiest Saturdays since Noah built the ark, Thatcham hosted the Chinnor Wildboys at the Henwick Worthy Sports Fields. The Wildboys were well aware that this would be a testing fixture as Thatcham’s 1st team had a free weekend and as all are aware this would mean a strengthened 2nd team selection.
Chinnor faced the battering wind at the kick off and it was not long until Thatcham used the blustery conditions to their advantage, pinning Chinnor back and causing them to make errors, resulting in a Thatcham penalty. This was struck with ease to put Thatcham 3-0 up at the early stages.
As Chinnor restarted, Thatcham continued to dominate, they once again pinned the Wildboys back this time spotting the space out wide to score. The resulting conversion was awarded even though the ball appeared to have struck the outside of the post and deflect away, nonetheless this extended the lead to 10-0. As Chinnor stood under the posts, they were aware that being 10-0 down within 10 minutes was a far from ideal situation and if they were not careful they could be facing a barrage for the remaining 70 minutes.
The wise words that were heard under the posts had clearly not yet sunk in as Thatcham were awarded another penalty, which in turn was precisely slotted between the posts leaving the Wildboys with a 13-point deficit within the first quarter of an hour.
Hillier restarted the game and as he did, the Wildboys themselves started the game. They played more phases than has been seen from them all season. Hard hitting runs from George White, Tom White, Max Williams and Adam Draper, forged with clinical passing from George Mahendron and support work from all positions, saw Chinnor dominate and work their way up the field against the headwind. Thatcham defended admirably, holding up a try, but they could not withstand when Adam Draper powered over for Chinnor’s first try of the game. Unfortunately, the headwind proved too much for James Way who didn’t quite make the target for the conversion leaving the score at 13-5.
The Wildboys continued to dominate when the game restarted, the hands were solid from every player as was the tackling when called upon. The set pieces highlighted the dominance of the Wildboys, with Mark Wilkinson stealing many of the lineouts and the pack scrummaging with strength to give the backs clean ball who in turn then restarted the phases. Before long the ball was picked up by George Mahendron who saw the slightest of spaces open up, he jinked through to score directly under the posts, James Way then coolly converted to put the Wildboys just one point behind at 13-12 as the game reached half time.
At half time Chinnor knew the victory was there for the taking, they had wind with them in this half and had their tails up from their encouraging comeback. Harry Hillier began the second half and as Thatcham received, they tried to play the style of rugby that had served Chinnor well against the wind. This attempt was thwarted by big hitting Ollie Jackson and Mark Wilkinson who tackled anything that moved. It gave the likes of Max Williams, George Hope and the White brothers the opportunity to keep running hard lines and pin back the Thatcham defences. This created the space which was expertly exposed by good hands from the likes of Harry Hillier and Jon Down to eventually see a darting run from Draper who then touched down in the corner. The conversion failed to reach the target, nonetheless the Wildboys were in the lead for the first time of the game with the score poised at 13-17.
The game continued much in the same form, the rain continued to pour, the wind continued to howl and the Wildboys continued to shine. George Culbert was unlucky to spill the ball over the line after a strong powerhouse run down the flanks, but Chinnor were soon after able to extend the lead with a successful penalty from Harry Hiller, making it 13-20 in favour of Chinnor. This happened to be Hillier’s final contribution to the game, he gave away a penalty and in protest after the restart, decided to hit his opposite number rather late. The referee decided he was to spend the final 10 minute on the side-line and showed him a yellow card. This was a somewhat daft move from Hillier, meaning the Wildboys were down to 14 men with only a 7-point lead. Thankfully the illustrious Wildboys were not phased, they continued in the same manner, big carries from Ollie Jackson, George White and Max Williams saw the Thatcham defence pinned back. George Mahendron popped the ball up to Tom White who powerfully crossed the tryline for Chinnor’s fourth try of the game. The resulting conversion was this time taken by utility man, Guy Hackshaw who extended the lead to 13-27.
This was how the game ended and was a highlight of the grit and determination from the Wildboys. When faced with a negative scoreline and biblical weather, their heads never dropped and they continued to press for a bonus point victory. It was a performance that was described by captain George White as the “best team performance of the season” and hopefully the form will continue through the remainder of the season. Standout performances this week came from Harry Hillier, Ollie Jackson and Tom White, however this week’s man of the match was awarded to Captain George White, who led by example with big hits and powerful runs. This week’s mare of the match is awarded to Harry Hillier for the only memorable mistake being his horrendously late tackle.

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Man of the match: George White
Mare of the match: Harry Hillier
Tries: A.Draper (2), G.Mahendron, T.White
Convs: J.Way, G.Hackshaw
Pens: H.Hillier