Whisper it but these boys are doing well.

Chinnor Reds Vs Buckingham.

After the Blues had dispatched a strong Buckingham team with a resounding victory, the Reds had it all to do as Buckingham wheeled out another well drilled team, intent on restoring club honours.

The start was reasonably inauspicious with neither side gaining supremacy and although Chinnor held it's ground at the breakdown, the backs were more involved than seemed sensible, credit to them for stepping up. This seemed the case for both sides and as the first half ended 5-5, the scores reflected the game reasonably but Chinnor clearly felt there was more to come.

A half-time team talk from Captain Cook pointed out that they'd been playing against the wind and it was time to use the advantage; this the team clearly took to heart as the second half saw a huge increase in work-load, with forwards winning the battle in the tight, linking to Cook and Stainton in the centre, both of whom were intent on running and distributing well with Chinnor scoring another 4 (unanswered) tries, 2 of which were converted in blustery conditions.

Your correspondent was slightly distracted at this stage, dealing with the 'pope-mobile' attendance of our recently injured admin chief Cullen but performances of note include the finest side step/hand off/solo finish from Favours, whose support running was solid from the second he came on the pitch to relieve a trampled but unbowed Peecock.

Maldonado, playing on the other wing before switching to full-back showed his customary lack of concern for personal safety in securely tackling anything and everything in green that came anywhere near him, thus leading Buckingham to try and play a tighter game up the middle.
This was to prove equally challenging as Moody, Riley and Atkins were impervious in the forwards with work rate as high as ever, whilst Golding, having taken the wind behind quite literally, was noble enough to cross the try line after a storming run up the middle after a solid offload from Mulholland and then selflessly pass to Smith who had been running a strong support line, teamwork as it should be and a well deserved finish from the scrum-half. Something in the names perhaps..

Cullen junior (the one with working, much quicker legs…) was in fine form having switched to the wing for this match, with strong and vocal support running, his speed and pace deserved a try to be awarded but alas it was deemed not to have downward pressure. The referees decision as ever, is final.

The final score of 31-5, reflecting huge effort and team work by all the Chinnor lads against a Buckingham side who are well drilled and for this age group, communicate exceptionally clearly but on this occasion, faced a Chinnor Reds who were clearly not going to be outdone by their colleagues in the Blues.

A huge amount to be proud of and much to work with for the matches to come over the next couple of weeks

Alan Burnett