Banbury Festival 4 October 2009

Chinnor A v Witney (29-0)

Quick run-in try from kick-off (Jack E). Second try good hands (Jack E). Third try after pressure (James M). Fourth try (Jack E) after clever kick off (Harry) into space, Tom S chase, tackle and diving try. Heavy Witney pressure on the Chinnor line, finally cleared by Tom S penalty kick. Fifth try (James M) run-in after breakaway penalty.

Chinnor A v Abingdon (33-0)
Quick run-in try at real pace (Tom S). Second try run-in (Jack E) with lots of support! Third try (Jack E) run-in after spurious penalty award. 19-0 at half time. Chinnor were rucked off the ball too often but the fourth try was scored after Iestyn toppled over the try line like a felled tree. Fifth try (Ben M) after lots of great hands, good support from Charlie K and James M.

Chinnor A v Chippy (28-7)
Run-in tries by Iestyn and Jack E. Good mauling, rolling and driving. Third try (Tom S) with another impressive run over half the pitch. Good support and driving. A somnambulant start to the second half but a lucky kick from Mackie caught by Callum on the bounce for a run-in try for over the last third of the pitch. Some mistakes started to creep in with periods of weak defense – the try was conceded because Chinnor couldn’t be bothered to stop the opposition – but a win’s a win no matter how you look at it.

Chinnor A v Banbury (43-0)
First try (Iestyn): Good hands/passing and support. Second try (Jack E) with a powerful run, as if the Colossus of Rhodes was unleashed from his stony existence & was dragging opponents with him. Third try by Nathaniel was a typically hard, running-at-'em effort, taking no prisoners. Fourth try (Nathaniel) was a real touch of brilliance and showed what the Chinnor team can do. It was a real team effort of rolling, passing, tackling, supportive rugby - great to watch & superbly satisfying to play. Even the Head Coach was heard to heckle that watching this rugby almost made his job enjoyable. Fifth try (Charlie K), again a good team build up. 29-0 at half time. Sixth try (Jack E), a run-in from the kick-off. Seventh try (Tom S) was a beauty - a team effort of running and passing rugby. Oh joy, what a great performance over the day, truly magnificent. We're in the final, having been undefeated, scoring 133 points & only conceding 7. Into the final with nothing to fear, surely? Who is it? Oh.... Bicester.

The Final:
Chinnor A v Bicester: Final (0-21)
Ah, Bicester! The old nemesis...
Like Holmes & Moriarty, Bond & Blofeld, Tom & Jerry, Chinnor & Bicester squared up for the final. This was going to be tough, no doubt, but Chinnor knew that they had over a hundred points under their belts on the day & a memory of beating Bicester at the last encounter at Akeman Street (& of a Bicester coach being sent off in that match). That Bicester's captain had been yellow-carded earlier on this day for fisticuffs was not perhaps a surprise - this typifies the zeal with which Bicester approach all of their games. They are the Australians of U13 rugby, in attitude at least: Losing isn't an option. Did Bicester’s attitude win the battle of minds before kick off? This was a ding-dong game from the outset but it was clear that Bicester were very well organised on the pitch and also harder, fitter individuals. Their effort was relentless & their attitude was Australian: every loose ball should be theirs, every tackle hard, every pass to hand, every darting individual run to have support from the team machine.

After a full on period of play with Chinnor playing brave defence, the first try to Bicester was put down under the posts as the scorer was allowed to run in with the Chinnor players having given up the chase. Chinnor appeared less conditioned than Bicester & were feeling the effects of a long day. At half time, trailing 0-7, Chinnor heads were down, players were limping & holding aching ribs, shoulders, arms, legs...

Who knows the secrets of the Black Magic Box or what Coach Hook imparts to his troops at half time? It would need to be good this time. Sure enough, the second half started with some brave & tough play, particularly by Callum and Tom B. But too many injuries were being sustained by Chinnor as a fitter Bicester team ran in a second try & Coach Hook was having to make substitutions & position changes on the fly. After watching Bicester score a third try, too tired to give chase, Chinnor had all but given up. There was a last hurrah from an audibly growling Adam C who made a darting run down the right but to no avail, as he was bundled, pulled & punched into touch by the ready & waiting bunch of Bicester bruisers.

The result was a fair reflection of the flow of play & congratulations to Bicester for becoming County Champions. Congratulations as well to a strong Chinnor squad who played some lovely rugby. We’ll stuff Bicester next time.