U13's through to the Cup semi-finals

Oxfordshire Cup U13 Quarter Final

A few last minutes changes due to illness didn't deter the boys for this big away day at Banbury.

Having won the toss Vaughan bravely elected to play into the fierce wind in the first half.

From the off Chinnor were put under pressure by a strong and disciplined Banbury pack. Their rucking and counter-rucking skills gave Banbury much of the possession in the first ten minutes and led their winger to fly-hack the ball over the line and touch the ball down for the first try which was well converted.

After the restart Chinnor appeared to regroup and focus on keeping possession, through short passes and minimal kicking into the very gusty wind. A strong maul between Banbury's 22 yard line and the half way enabled Parkin to pop the ball to Vaughan who showed genuine agility and managed to step three of Banbury's defenders and score our first try. The wind was not to be his friend and blew the conversion off course.

At the restart Banbury pushed us back to our try line and a fiercely contested (if not faultless) maul from a line-out gave Banbury try number two.

Our play then really stepped up with strong scrums led by a solid front row of Morris, Riley and Bedwell , good line out jumping from Gilbert and Golding and powerful running into a strong head wind. The 8-9-10 partnership of Moody, Parkin and Vaughan proved effective and our backs kept the ball tight in hand and on the few occasions Banbury backs did gain possession Taylor, Stainton, Butler, Alexander and Maldonado tackled aggressively and with a growing confidence.

This broad strength led to a super multi-phased play up the pitch towards Banbury's end and on the fifth phase a rolling maul made its way to the touch line and offered up the ball for the second Vaughan try. No conversion.

Half time soon afterwards and the score sitting uneasily at 12-10 to Banbury.

Shortly after half time we started introducing our substitutes who, without exception played well and demonstrated their value to the team. An awkward tackle and an injured knee rendered the feisty Banbury No 8 temporarily unable to play. Glad to say he returned to field later on.

After some strong tackling from Burnett and Shearman produced a turnover, Golding really started putting his foot down and emerged from a maul with two Banbury boys attached to him and a look of utter determination on his face. A third Banbury lad attached himself but they were still unable to stop him scoring a really impressive third try for Chinnor.

Blackwell, Bridges, Norris and Ryan made a great impact and after managing to secure turnover ball from a maul the territory was very much in Chinnor’s favour as Banbury struggled to get out of their half against the gusty wind and the Chinnor boys' improved fitness showed with some strong running, tackling and scrummaging.

Bettison's fresh legs and pace on the wing proved their worth with two tries in quick succession, which brought the scoreline up to 27-12. Vaughan managed to slot the conversion through the posts after a day of frustratingly challenging kicking down to the wind.

The final try came from a Banbury penalty where Golding's strongly supported crash ball gave Chinnor a very satisfying scoreline of 32-12. Playing with the wind in the 2nd half proved to be the right decision.

This wasn't the only game at Banbury as our other boys played a 10-a-side Baa Baas game against Banbury on an adjacent pitch.

As tens would normally be played in the firmer sunnier grounds of spring, the referee wisely chose to encourage this to be a running game and and our boys rallied round 'Captain Cook' who led from the front with running, tackling and deft passing from the off. Initially the passes going almost exclusively to a dynamic duo of Cullen and Metcalf duo who were there to take momentum and scoring opportunities aplenty. Favors and Atkins took note and showed great running, handling and support work for a highly entertaining first half.
For the second half we were joined by some more players and the impact was positive with Banbury, having seemed set for a whitewash, re-grouped to make it a proper contest but one that Chinnor were never in doubt of losing. Smith particularly making some fine runs and magical side steps.

The final score was lost in the wind but was heading for at least 8 tries to 2.

Thoroughly enjoyable to watch and the boys got plenty of the ball and ran their hearts out.

All in all a very satisfying day, where the boys more than lived up to the occasion. Many thanks to Banbury for hosting us and we look forward to playing them again next weekend at Kingsey Road.