Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde and the creatures the world forgot are all suitable descriptions for the Chinnor forwards but they are also famous films made in Maidenhead by the Hammer House of Horror in the 60’s and 70’s. Parents will surely remember the fake blood, unconvincing monsters and wobbly sets but there was nothing false about the welcome from the Maidenhead squad this weekend.

With both Sir Stirling Moss and James Haskell as ex–players Maidenhead have a proud heritage and one that they’re not going to give up on easily (as club chairman - John Wanklyn - is keen to point out on the clubs website).

As expected the B game kicked off ferociously with Maidenhead taking a very quick try (5-0). A surprised Chinnor were successful in calming things down a bit for the next 5-10 minutes but some continued pressure and a few missed tackles from Chinnor allowed Maidenhead to score another (10-0). Clearly being behind was not part of the script for the Oxfordshire visitors so it was time for a gear change. Greater driving in the scrum and increased pressure around it allowed Chinnor to make a break giving Toby an opportunity to cut through the Maidenhead defence and score a try which he then converted (10-7). Game on.

The Chinnor machine continued to ramble on with Sam Parsons capitalising on the end of a beautiful team move to drive over for Chinnors second (10-12). Maidenhead also didn’t like being behind so pulled another back in the corner following some hard rucking and aggressive forward play (15-12). The Chinnor scrum got stronger as the game progressed – a brilliant drive allowed Ollie Dawkins to break early and score the 3rd which Adam Pipkin then converted. Final score for the B’s (15-19).

Having watched the B team play out of their skin the A team had it all to prove. Maidenhead had been holding back some of their big guns for the second game and were clearly out to avenge their defeat. The hits got harder, the rucks got fiercer, the ball moved slicker and the parents got louder. As Director of Rugby Hook later confirmed…this was going to be the best Chinnor performance so far this season. To call the following score line a rout would be doing the Maidenhead squad a disservice – they battled, fought and pushed as hard as they could but Chinnor edged almost every play. The scores for the A game were Dan Denton (0-5), Conversion by Toby Butler (0-7), Dan Denton (0-12), Dan Denton (0-17), Conversion by Ollie Dawkins (0-19), Ben Aston (0-24), Conversion by Ollie Dawkins (0-26), Charlie Krabbe (0-31), Conversion by Ollie Dawkins (0-33), Jordan Head (0-38), Conversion by Ollie Dawkins (0-40), Dan Denton (0-45) and a final conversion from Ollie Dawkins (0-47).

The Maidenhead players never gave up (when lesser teams would have). They fought for everything and tried to pull moves together (on one occasion getting over the try line only to be held up). They were a credit to their club and the game of rugby.

Chinnor continue their very positive season with an excellent performance from every player giving their coaches and parents an early Christmas present.

Angus 'The Waking Dead' Gibbins