Saturday the 23rd of April saw the Chinnor Wildboys play their final game of the season at Witney RFC.
It is a day which I (Gossip Girl), found extremely difficult to get through. Not only was it the final time of the 2015/16 season I would see the wonderful Wildboys don the black and white stripes, but it was also the anniversary of the death of my two great inspirations. In 1616 William Shakespeare drew his last breath, and 234 years later in 1850 William Wordsworth sadly past away. It was these two great scribes whom I owe my love of literature and the reason I am inspired to write match reports for the almighty Wildboys.
As I wiped away a tear rolling down my cheek, the referee blew his whistle to signal the start of what was sure to be a thrilling encounter between 2nd and 3rd in the league. The Wildboys were still without Thomas White due to his ongoing injury, Jon “Ralph” Goodson and Max Williams due to other commitments and William Taylor was forced to start on the bench due to having a sore bottom, this saw Dean Collins join the fold of the Wildboys on the back row.
Chinnor dominated in the early plays of the game, powerful forward play was allowing the backs to play good phases and before long Robert Nichols was giving the trademark ‘show and go,’ jinking his way over the line for the first try of the game. The resulting conversion was struck well by James Way but unfortunately saw the ball bounce off the outside of the upright putting Chinnor 5-0 ahead.
From the restart Chinnor again dominated, strong tackles and rucking from Tom Warner and the Wilkinson brothers and powerful runs from the Collins twins saw Chinnor back in the oppositions half. Some textbook rucking followed, seeing James Way spin the ball out to Rob Nichols who in turn spun the ball to the oncoming George Hope who saw the two-man overlap and passed out to Captain George White who showed an uncharacteristic turn of pace and gassed his way into the right hand corner for Chinnor’s second try of the game. “Peaches” Way stood up to take the resulting conversion which once again was struck with finesse, but unfortunately lacked the direction, leaving the score at 10-0.
The restart was collected by Dane “Muffin Bum” White, who off-loaded to Sam Ludgate, who in typical style powered into the oncoming Witney players allowing for the Wildboys to build for another attack. A few phases later and suddenly James Way peeled off the back of a ruck and was screaming down the wing, he decided to chip and chase and the deftest of nudges saw the ball bouncing over the tryline. Sadly, the Witney fullback just beat James to the ball and touched down for a 22 drop out.
Witney restarted and manged to gain possession of the ball, which they quickly cleared with a big kick, Dom Bradbrook-Taylor didn’t quite manage to get under the ball seeing it bounce awkwardly for DBT and Captain “Thudbutt” to scramble between themselves and dive on the loose ball together. The ball was cleared and the Captain called out to Thomas “Peg Leg” White that he needed replacing, which was questioned, but the finger at a right angle on Georges left hand was enough for William “Wild Bill” Taylor to be instructed to tighten up his Clingfilm and ready himself for the front row.
The temporary loss of the Captain did not phase the Wildboys and the “Fat Controller” did just that and set the Wildboys to defending the surging attacks of Witney. Chinnor were soon attacking again and George Hope got his hands on the ball and made a powerful 20m run to score the third try of the game. It was not a day to be remembered for Chinnor’s kicking and the conversion was missed again leaving it at 15-0 at the half time whistle.
Changes at half-time saw George White return to the field with his newly straightened finger (with thanks to Witney’s physio) and Jason Hankins grace the field as he had a day off making tea for Matt Barker.
Witney clearly had some strong words at half time and came back fighting, whereas Chinnor looked off the boil in comparison to the first half. The Wildboys gave away a couple of penalties in quick succession, which Witney capitalised on and a couple of difficult kicks were both expertly slotted over to close the score up to 15-6. Witney then had their tails up and played some good phases of rugby, they exposed Chinnor’s dog-leg in defence and an overlap saw their winger touching down in the corner for their first try of the game. The conversion on the touch line wasn’t too much to ask for the Witney kicker and he struck it over to close the score further to 15-13.
The Wildboys continued to be under pressure from the Witney boys who had the wind in the sails, but Wildboys are never far from glory and against the run of play Rob Nichols zig zagged his way through the defence to score his second of the game under the posts. This time James Way struck hard and true and earned the extra 2 points putting the scoreboard at 22-13.
Witney did not want to end the season without a fight and continued to press the Wildboys, they soon capitalised on the pace of their winger again who scored a carbon copy of his earlier try to close the score again to 22-18, uncharacteristically the conversion was missed so 4 points separated the teams. As Witney continued to press it was squeaky bum time for the Wildboys, but they remained resolute and as the Witney winger was nearly in touch the referee blew his whistle to signal the end of what was a fantastic encounter.
Standout performances came from Jayson Abbott for some powering runs, Tom Warner for a real shift around the breakdowns, George White who did not stop running throughout, but this week’s man of the match was awarded to Robert Nichols for his try scoring ability.
The week’s mare of the match could have easily been awarded to George Hope for having to leave the pitch to be sick after his try, but it was instead awarded to Adam Draper for his uncharacteristic dropping of balls.
Special mention for Rob Nichols for being awarded Captains Player of the Season for his performances on the field and for his efforts and help off of it. Another special mention to George Hope who was awarded Players Player of the Season by his fellow Wildboys, his outstanding performances week in week out no matter which position he was played saw him receive the lion’s share of the votes.
As I sign off for the final time this season I would like to thank the Wildboys for the spectacle of a season that they have provided, a top three finish was the aim and they achieved nothing less, finishing just one point off the top spot. Thanks to the White brothers, George and Tom, as Captain and V.C respectively, for their work in the smooth running of the Wildboys, especially George for his efforts throughout the season. It would not have happened without his hard work.
You know you love me
Gossip Girl
xoxoxo