Chinnor B v Old Albanians B

Old Albanians took advantage of sluggish inattention at the kick-off, quickly setting up camp within 10 yards of Chinnor’s try line. Rousing themselves from their lethargy, Chinnor shook their collective heads like a pack of bears waking from hibernation and started pushing back. Examples of how to tackle were provided by James B, Alistair, Rory and Cameron, while Jack G, Andrew and Fred attempted to regain ground in a series of short spurts. Callum seemed determined to individually tackle every single OA player he could lay hands on, but the unexpected winter sunshine must have momentarily blinded the squad to a breakaway OA sprinter, because they stood and watched with vague interest as he streaked by them to score the first try (converted). Score 0 - 7. Chinnor was working twice as hard as OAs to gain half the ground and, despite more solid tackling from Jake , Cam and Callum, the scrum seemed to lose the will to push and OAs took the chance to score a second try (unconverted). Score at halftime 0 - 12.

The second half started as the first had, with the opposition camped out on Chinnor’s line. The squad was exhibiting an odd reluctance to touch the ball and a series of mistakes resulted in it being kicked over the try line where a switched-on OA player took the opportunity to touch it down (unconverted). Score 0 - 17. At the restart Adam P’s golden boot finally took the play down to the OA’s half and Andrew made a couple of lovely drives to regain even more ground. Committed tackles from Fred, Jack G, James B and Callum couldn’t hide the fact that the OAs were more organised than Chinnor, though. Rory’s lovely breakaway sprint came to nothing when he ran out of support, but an OA knock-on close to the try line gave spectators a glimmer of hope. After more scrappy play, Fred S clicked into overdrive. He looped and looped and looped again and, with the help of Jack G and Cam, set up the chance for William H (making a very welcome return) to score a breathtaking runaway try which was ably converted by Adam P. Score 7 – 17. The spectators were then treated to some lovely play from Callum & Fred (sadly unsupported) and a spectacular try-saving tackle from Adam P, but OAs drove the scrum to the line with sheer force of will and, when they rolled away, they had scored a 4th and final try (unconverted) to signal the end of the game. Final score 7 – 22. The end result was a game with flashes of brilliance and genuine attempts at team play from Chinnor, but the OAs superior organisation emerged victorious.

Chinnor A v Old Albanians A

This match will not go down in the annals of history as one of Chinnor's best performances. At the Chinnor kick off, the ball was kicked down the throat of an OA player who made a quick charge to test the opposition and, not finding any, ran in for a try. At the restart, we watched a near replay of this: Ball down OA throat, Chinnor players making way, try scored – at least this time Chinnor put in one tackle, with Ellis covering a lot of ground running back in pursuit of the rampant OA line. Thereafter, the Chinnor backs seemed to run scared of their well-drilled opponents. Hats off to the OAs, they demonstrated some lovely running & passing, with loops & running onto the ball at pace. By half time, Chinnor were six tries to nil down. The second half saw some improvement with Matthew S & Nathaniel H demonstrating a bucked-up sense of purpose, but the OAs closed down every Chinnor move and ran in another three tries; Jack Ellis & his new partner at outside centre, Iestyn James, were unable to make their usual runs at the opposition, a telling indication of the run of play. Final Score: 0-57

As we trudged off home for the Sunday roast, house points awards were difficult to make. Positives: the rucking improved as the match went on. Everyone will no doubt really be looking forward to some tackling practice on Wednesday, though.