
It was a misty, autumnal morning on arrival at Henley for what has been a good contest in recent years between these two clubs. This was a re-run of the U12 Country Final which Chinnor emerged as winners.
The first quarter of the game was fairly even, Chinnor going ahead with a strong run from Day breaking tackles and scoring near the corner. Nicholls was close with the conversion but just short. Henley immediately fought back. The game was littered with handling errors and reset scrums so neither team could get any momentum. Henley took the lead with a converted try under the posts when Chinnor failed to clear their line after some prolonged Henley pressure. Chinnor immediately hit back with Pietersen breaking the line in the centre and with a couple of sidesteps was clear to score. 12-7 Chinnor at half time following Nicholls conversion.
Second half brought a few changes for Chinnor and finally some cohesion in play as they started to dominate although Henley were defending well. After some pressure from Chinnor on the Henley try line, Pearce picked up a loose ball and drove forward to score. Conversion by Buckland. After further handing errors and reset scrums Chinnor ran a penalty from the Henley 22 and Zychowicz crossed after a strong run; try was converted. Henley were noticeably tiring and Chinnor capitalised by dominating territory and keeping possession. After a series of rucks, Biss collected the ball in midfield, broke the lineand outpaced the defence to scored under the posts. Conversion by Buckland.
All in all a scrappy game strewn with errors. Defences had the upper hand but Chinnor's strength, dominance and speed around the pitch eventually opened the gaps for the tries.