20th of February.
The day in 1933 when Adolf Hitler secretly met with German industrialists to arrange financing of the Nazi Party's upcoming election campaign. Fast forward 83 years and the Chinnor Wildboys were travelling to Redingsians to play their away fixture against a unpredictable 3XV.
The Wildboys were back to their full strength with captain and vice captain George and Tom White 'the gorgeous brothers' were back from galavanting around Europe. Along with them was Rob 'The Fat Controller' Nichols who had left his post at 10 for the past 2 weeks.
The weather was drizzly at kick off, this did not bother Wild Bill as he comfortably took the ball and the Wildboys were off. With some confident play around the breakdown and some strong runs from Jayson Abbott and Adam Draper in the centres the Wildboys looked in control. Before long they were in the scoring zone, and some hard hitting lines by George White and Jon Goodson gave them good position rivalled by some strong defensive play by Redingsians. The ball was popped out by covering scrum half Peter Way and the Fat Controller bowled over underneath the sticks. Peter Way calmly converted. 0-7.
As the weather started to exacerbate the play started to tighten, with a few dropped balls from both sides the game started to become a forward dominated battle. Some cutting hits from Jon Goodson, Wild Bill and George Hope kept them at bay, however the Wildboys discipline slipped at times and that gave their opposition some territory. Before long the strong runs from the 2 centres again put the Wildboys in a much better position and this saw Guy Hackshaw glide over for a deserved team try. Peter Way again gracefully converted this try making the scores 0-14.
Before half time, the Wildboys were playing some well fortified rugby and were awarded with another try when Adam Draper added to his long tally. Unfortunately unconverted the score at half time was 0-19.
The grey skyline smothered the landscape and the heavens began to open, which worsened the conditions and started making the play a lot harder for both teams. Redingsians responded vigorously and before long they were rewarded with a try of their own which they successfully converted. 7-19.
Due to the changing environments the Wildboys were relying more heavily on their solid front row to perform. They did so, and the scrums remained strong against a somewhat more heavier pack. Jon Goodson was standing out both at the set piece and around the park as he was putting a stop to an improving opposing side. The same couldn't be said for Adam Draper as he got bounced off by a superior 13 who runs were starting to worry the Wildboys. Again with some ill discipline and some decent play the home side were rewarded with their 2nd try and started to get back into this game, whilst the Wildboys were still hunting for their bonus point try thinking the game had been put to bed in the first half. 12-19.
It was at this point in the game around the middle of the park that George Hope found himself with the ball and felt like a chip and chase would be ideal. He lofted it over the opposing 10 and skirted around him praying for a lucky bounce to set himself up for a try scoring opportunity. Unfortunately due to the nature of the intensifying weather the ball landed and stayed down so this exciting opportunity was washed out. However with that excitement, the Wildboys had their tails up and the forward pack started to put the phases together. Peter Way was doing a fantastic job offloading to pods either side of him, and with the Fat Controller's call for a wide ball he spun wide and the back line carefully put the ball through the hands treating it like a bar of soap in a prison showers. This eventually found George Culbert who slid over for a well deserved team try and more importantly the bonus point that the Wildboys needed if they had any hope of finishing top of the table.
The final score ended 12-24.
Man of the Match this week was undoubtedly going to be a forward and there were some stand out performances throughout. Namely Mr Jon Goodson who had a exceptional game, and gracefully took this accolade.
The Mare of the Match was unjustly given to Guy Hackshaw purely because Mr Draper wasn't present at court and he took it well sinking a spiced beverage.
The 19th of March is the next fixture for the Wildboys which is away at their most hated rivals, Henley which will no doubt be a closely fought affair.

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Gossip Girl

Man of the match - Jon Goodson
Mate of the match - Guy Hackshaw

Tries: Rob Nichols, Guy Hackshaw, Adam Draper, George Culbert

Conversation: Peter Way (2)