Chinnor U15s lose out by one conversion

With 21 players available Chinnor U15s set out to beat local rivals Aylesbury. It was not to be in a tightly fought match during which Chinnor were the better side for the majority of play. A couple of missed tackles, occasional poor decision making and good play from Aylesbury denied Chinnor the win.

The match was played in four quarters to allow for coaching points and interchanges and the starting 15 did well in the first quarter. The forwards were very evenly matched but Chinnor produced a great sequence of play to send Dylan over for an unconverted try. Adam, Shaun, Sam, Chris and Rich worked well at the scrum, having initially been put under pressure. Led by skipper Max M, the pack worked hard to drive into Aylesbury and resist their probing attacks.

The second quarter saw one try for each team, with Aylesbury going over after a concerted period of pressure from the whole team. Chinnor responded when Finley seized the opportunity and used his strength to run 20 yards through three opposition players for a well-deserved try. Tom, Will and Nathan put in a good shift making yards in attack and defending well against some good ball carriers.

Scrum half duties were shared by Eddie and Dan with a welcome return by Joe at #10. Credit goes this week to our forwards bench of Ollie, Sol, Ben N and Ed M who had a seamless transition whenever they came on.

Quarter 3 saw mostly even play until Aylesbury won a penalty and from the resulting maul pushed up to the Chinnor try line. At this point the ball was not well enough secured and was snatched by Chinnor only to have it snatched back and grounded by a wily Aylesbury player. Archie D and Gus were a powerful combination on the pitch, wisely coming into the back line to provide options for Joe.

The final quarter saw Chinnor more resolutely shipping the ball our to the wings resulting a first try for Alex. This was quickly countered by two tries in quick succession (both of which were converted) for Aylesbury. The first was a good break through the middle with a couple of missed opportunities to tackle. The second was a solo effort from the kick-off when too few Chinnor players were chasing down the kick and a strong runner broke through. Needing a converted try to draw, Chinnor were fired up to take it back up the pitch looking for points. This they did right up to the Aylesbury try line but the defence was good and it took several attempts before the ball was shipped out for a second try on the wing for Alex. Alas, it was not converted and Chinnor came off second best.

Thanks to Aylesbury for hosting, to Rob Alexander for refereeing and to Aylesbury supporter Darren Slater for the great photographs.