The Curates Egg

A curate’s egg of a performance saw Chinnor eventually overcome a gutsy Abbey 24-15 to
keep their successful start to the season on track. Was it the changing of the clocks, too
much half term indulgence or a bit of complacency that led to a slightly off key showing ?
A haphazard start from the home team lacking in focus at the breakdown and support
running meant Abbey took a deserved 5 -0 lead after 10 minutes. Chinnor were struggling
for fluency as they were continually out rucked, which meant James was under pressure
getting the ball away. A number of knock ons also impeded the boys playing their usual
attacking game.
It took until the last minute before half time before the home team sprang into action.
Showing much more ferocity at the breakdown and running hard, straight lines a number of
quick phases saw Morgan on the front foot. He drew the defence and threw a superb pass
‘out the back’ which released the backs in space. Nice hands gave Charlie a 3 on 1, he
decided to dummy and cut inside the covering defence to level the score with a clinical
finish.
During the half we unfortunately lost Danny and Ed to two nasty looking injuries. Danny
with a cut eye and Ed with another shoulder injury. We wish them both well and speedy
recoveries and hope to see them on the pitch soon.
The second half started as the first half finished with good, effective running. Tom C took a
lovely line to break the first up defence. He made good yardage and with better support and
quick recycling the ball was produced quickly to the backs. Nice hands again gave Nathan
space in the wider channel. The try was entirely inevitable as once again Nathan scorched
around the covering defence to score under the posts. Chinnor took the lead 12-5 with Will
C’s conversion.
Abbey then struck back with a long range try after some pretty shoddy tackling from the
home side. The game was now well and truly in the balance. However, Chinnor managed to
rally once again and Nathan scored another fine individual try to increase the lead to 19-10
with another conversion from Will C.
A nicely executed front peel from a lineout in Abbey’s 22 put the result beyond doubt with 5
minutes remaining. Morgan made some good ground before George W supporting well
dived into the corner and scoring with millimetres to spare and several defenders on his
back. 24-10
Abbey scored a consolation try with the last play of the game. 24-15
With a number of tough games looming Chinnor have to learn from this performance. The
boys realise that there is much to improve on and this comes from hard work, on skills,
intensity and fitness. Don’t leave it to others and make sure your contribution is positive
and telling. They are definitely up for it!
By J Vaughn