Chinnor U13s Cup Win 28-14

Chinnor triumph in sticky conditions....Chinnor 28 v Oxford Harlequins 14

After recent weeks of hard frost and frozen turf Chinnor arrived at the home of Gosford All Blacks to play the much postponed Cup quarter final fixture. The warm wet weather had resulted in a very muddy, sticky pitch which contributed to an error strewn game but when the ball did get out wide it was Chinnor who showed the invention.

From the off Chinnor controlled the ball, possession and territory and camped in the Quins half with only some last ditch tackles and wayward final passes preventing an early score. Chinnor eventually got off the mark halfway through the half with Biss touching down behind the posts after some clever back play. Converted by Nicholls. Towards the end of the first half, Zychowicz seized on a loose ball and with a direct and forceful run, broke the defence and raced through to score under the posts. Converted by Nicholls. Quins immediately hit back hit back with a scintillating run by their full back from deep in his half, going the hardway through the Chinnor forwards and breaking into open field with the defence scattered, to score. Converted. Halftime 14-7 to Chinnor.

The Second half started with Chinnor taking the game to Quins, doing all the attacking and creating openings but Quins had gained some confidence and were still very much in the game. Scrums were frequent but very difficult due to the soft conditions and Quins were on top here.

Finally Biss picked up a short pass in the midfield and from open play broke the line and scored. Converted to 21-7. Chinnor piled on the pressure and should have scored after some brilliant running. Still more Chinnor pressure but after some sloppy play Quins had the ball in open field and some excellent footballing skills resulted in a try. 21-14!

Still 10 mins to go but credit to the Chinnor boys with all the possession and territory and the setbacks of breakaway scores to be only 7 points up they did not give up and continued to play high tempo attacking rugby, pressuring the Quins defence into errors. After a 5m scrum Quins failed to clear, the kick charged down and Thompson touched down to jubilation from his team mates. Following another Nicholls conversion, time was up and the match finished 28-14.

Conditions were not good underfoot and the Chinnor boys were treated to a lesson; even if you are on top you can be vulnerable to clever play by 1 or 2 talented players. Despite the closeness of the score the Chinnor team deserved their victory and look forward to the semi final against Banbury!

Well done Chinnor ending 2012 unbeaten an excellent feat!