A record breaking night at Iffley Road, the famous Oxford University ground, saw a consummate Chinnor performance dispatch Harwell with a pitiless display of power and skill. The team was orchestrated and led by a sublime Begley whose personnel total of 42 points was more than Chinnor had conceded in the whole tournament. 4 tries and 11 conversions put Begley’s into the pantheon of great performances which have graced this historic ground, joining legends such as Prince Oblensky and New Zealand’s World cup winning Captain David Kirk .
Chinnor started the game with a bang determined to make it 3 in a row. Harwell simply could not match the power of Chinnor’s pack and good fast first phase ball was won in abundance from the well drilled lineout working to perfection with Mike Wiltshire, Andy Milburn and Smudge dominating this phase. But when the ball reached the midfield of Brooks, Begley and Oxley, sounding like a firm of provincial accountants, Chinnor really upped the pressure. Direct, powerful running, good sleight of hand and deft offloads either led to searing breaks or sucked in the defence to open large gaps for the flying back three.
Chinnor’s first try scored by number 8 Simon Pearson came after a Begley break. Begley then scored his first try as he ghosted through the defence to saunter over under the posts. Chinnor launched attacks from deep in their half and after a good break and offload from Oxley, Gavin Wade Williams scorched in from 75 metres. Gavin’s evening was cut short soon afterwards as he again sprinted in from his own half only to injure himself attempting an ambitious Ash Splash. There was no respite for Harwell however as Chinnor’s answer to Serge Blanco, Nick Gyss showed his silky running skills, peppered with the odd gallic expletive which had some perplexed Oxford language Students reaching for the phrase book. This was to bring Nick 3 thrilling tries. Matthews replaced an injured Kidner and Youens was on for Williams.
Despite being outgunned upfront and out wide Harwell put up real resistance at the breakdown and continued to tackle doggedly, they just seem to run out of numbers as the waves of attacks crashed against their ailing defence. Harwell scored after 30 minutes with a chip and chase from their 15. 42-7 at halftime.
Chinnor continued their onslaught in the 2nd half with some good inter-passing off the back of a scrum saw Simon Turner finish off the move in style. John Sellars was not to be denied his 3rd successive scoring final with a good inside ball from Begley.
Dave Youens got into the act rolling back the years with a poachers effort in the left hand corner but then seemed to have a problem with what could have only been quicksand in the opposition’s 22. Jon Brooks sporting some of the most preposterous facial hair ever seen but what he stated was the ‘in look for Laptop salesmen’ ran a perfect line to continue the scoring. Chinnor continued to show no mercy and after a thrilling run by big smudge it was fitting that Begley rounded off his bravura display by again dancing through the defence to score and convert the last play of the game.
Thanks to all the squad for a thrilling end to the season, the numbers available for the final was a fitting comment on the style, quality and camaraderie of an excellent team. It was a shame that not all could get on but shows real strength.
One sour note was that some of the junior members of the squad were seen carousing late into the night in a direct contravention of the team management code of conduct. They will not be considered for selection again this season.

Squad:Giles Kidner, Simon Matthews, Mike Wiltshire, Bob Harris, Andy Millburn, Andrew Smith, Steve Bridges, Si Turner, Simon Pearson, Bill Deeley, John Vaughan, Conor Begley, John Sellars, Darren Oxley, Ben Forward, Steve Pile, Jon Brooks, Gavin Wade-Williams, Dave Youens, Nick Gyss, Tony Wilkinson, John Cann, Carl Buckland, Tony Howells, Jerry Philpott, Doug Humphries, James Tayler, Dave Ratcliffe