On the 14th January 1969 Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters fame was born, but nevermind. Fast forward 48 years as Chinnor Wildboys welcomed Witney II’s to Kingsey Road for what was sure to be no lounge act. Matches between these two teams have been hard fought throughout the years with the Wildboys gaining the upper hand on the last encounter earlier this season. The Wildboys had so far remained unbeaten and hoped that this would not be the game that saw the wheels fall off.
As the teams readied themselves for the start of the game there was nothing but echoes, silence, patience and grace from both sides. Robert Nichols started the game and there was immediately a breakout of activity. The Wildboys dominated the first phases of play with some hard-running lines from forwards and back alike. Before long Robert Nichols was using the textbook show and go to find himself in the clear and trotting over the line like a show pony to touch down in the corner. James Way stepped up for the conversion but he blew it and the kick was narrowly missed, bouncing off the upright.
The game was restarted with Guy Hackshaw coming off the wing to collect the ball from the sky and once again Chinnor were in bloom. Witney battled hard at the breakdowns, but the Wildboys continued to press soon seeing Max Williams touching down under the posts, this time James Way knocked over the simple conversion, putting the score at 12-0.
Witney are never a team to let it die and fought back with ferocity. Their pressure forced mistakes from the Wildboys and were soon awarded a penalty which the slotted over to close the score to 12-3. Witney continued this run of pressure and a dumb mistake form Chinnor saw another penalty being scored by Witney and the score line further reduced to 12-6. The Wildboys did not want this to be the start of a long road to ruin and they were quickly back in the right area of the pitch allowing Dan Coulon to nip around the side of a ruck and touch down under the posts. James Way had found his form and was adding 2 points to his tally and put the score to 19-6 at the close of the half.
Half time saw Ed Devine replaced by Chris Jeffcock as the colour and the shape of his eyes highlighted a knock to the head earlier in the game. It also saw Jon Down come on for Trevor Powell who although knocking on still smells like teen spirit. The half time break heard words emphasising how the Wildboys needed to step up as the they were by no means in the clear.
The second half began and after a slow 10 minutes, the tries seemed to breed. Thomas White was the first of the second half try scorers, diving over to put the score at 24-6, James Way once again converting making it 26-6. Shortly after the try, debutant Garin Nicholls was replaced by Mark Bradburn and within moments he was receiving a pass to take him over the try line, but you can’t have it all, he fumbled the ball like a prize juggler knocking the ball on. Despite the non-try, the Wildboys couldn’t stay away from the try line and Max Wood was soon beating a man down the wing to touch down in the corner. The resulting kick was the most difficult of the day, but James Way’s kicking ability had come alive and he made it 33-6.
The next try was spectacular individual skill from the doll George Hope, seeing him beat two players and gracefully dive over, James Way once again converting to extend the lead to 40-6. Next up was again Robert Nichols, a man who these days could sell a dummy to mothercare. A quick show and go and a canter under the posts made it 47-6 after James Way had added the conversion.
Dan Coulon was then being replaced by Graeme Puffett, who took up position on the wing. The daylight began to fade but the Wildboys didn’t want to be wasting light and a good lineout near the half-way line saw Chinnor drive the Witney pack well into their half. One by one more players joined the march, suddenly there was something in the way, as it slowed George White peeled off to touch down over the try line, however the referee deemed it as being held-up. The Wildboys were up in arms and looked to seek recompense. It came in the form of another George Hope try, who nowadays spends most of his spare time thinking about a girl. James Way made it 7 from 8 putting the final score at 54-7.
There were fine performances from Jon Goodson, George Hope, James Way and Robert Nichols, but this week my hero and man of the match was Dan Coulon. The mare of the match was awarded to Adam Draper, who could do nothing but offer all apologies. This result has put the Wildboys 10 points clear at the top of BBO1 with a big fixture this coming weekend away to Amersham and Chiltern II’s, until then keep it wild….
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