Match Report By Greg Kemp

South of England Final

Chinnor RFC 15 Worthing RFC 27
The big game had finally arrived, the South of England Final following our inspired victory against Topsham in the previous round. The atmosphere couldn’t have been better, after the warm up, the Chinnor faithful had already assumed authority of the main stand with an outstanding turnout. The build up had definitely got the squad fired up who came storming out of the blocks forcing a penalty off our own kick-off. Worthing managed to steal the resulting lineout and clear their lines, Chinnor were unable to field the resulting kick on the full. Despite a good recovery, a penalty was conceded and Worthing were able to find touch in our 22. A solid lineout from them saw a pile of bodies force its way over our line, a good conversion put Chinnor 7-0 down. There was a positive response to the score but, a timely turnover by Worthing once again allowed them to send play back into our half when we began put their line under pressure. In spite of this, Chinnor’s backline seemed to effortlessly whip the ball out to Oscar Clayton who managed to make his way towards the Worthing 22, making valuable ground but conceding a lineout. These impressive attacking spells were somewhat tarnished by Chinnor’s uncharacteristically high penalty count early on. The referee had already threatened of an imminent yellow card after about 15 minutes, one of a string of penalties was kickable and Worthing took their opportunity to take the score to 10-0.
At this point there was a danger that the game would slip away if Chinnor didn’t make their mark on the score line. The team seemed to sense this and their defence tightened and the stream of penalties seemed to turn our way. One of which was kicked for an excellent touch finder to the opposition 22 courtesy of Ollie Pell. The lineout seemed to find its rhythm sending Brad Harewood on a marauding run carrying defenders with him. After a couple of phases of no gain George Hanley provided the inspiration spinning out of tackles and sliding under the posts. Chinnor were right back in it with the conversion narrowing the gap to 10-7. A sloppy restart led to a turnover, Worthing were clinical in the phases to come and their 13 showed his individual talent to go in under the posts, 17-7. Once again an immediate response was in order, Sam Coldicott produced an outrageous step on the right wing before shipping on to Alfie Sherlock who showed his strength and avoided the touchline. Harry Gillett introduced himself to the Worthing centre, before promptly bouncing him off and getting Chinnor to within striking distance. The pressure eventually told and some slick hands put Alex McDonald in at the corner, the tough conversion was missed keeping the score at 17-12. Chinnor were beginning to dominate proceedings and defensive pressure high up the field led to a penalty which was cashed in for 3 points and put the Worthing 6 into the sin bin. The score at halftime was 17-15 to Worthing.
There was a positive vibe in the Chinnor halftime huddle with valuable advice being provided by the coaches and first team player James Tyas. A solid take from the kick-off by Abram Smith was held up, resulting in our scrum. Early attacking pressure by Chinnor didn’t reap any rewards and Worthing were able to weather the storm with 14 men. Instead Alfie Sherlock picked up a shoulder injury and a sub had to be made. Worthing began to pile on the pressure and were awarded a penalty a mere 10 meters out. Instead of taking the points they opted for the scrum and after a number of forward drives were able to barge their way over the line, 24-15. The crowd attempted to raise the mood and Chinnor were able to secure a lineout in the Worthing 22. However, a lack of attacking variation allowed Worthing to force a penalty and promptly gain territory. There were heroic defensive efforts from the entire Chinnor squad, most noticeably the ‘Tasmanian Devil’ that is George Hanley showing complete disregard for his physical wellbeing and putting his body on the line. However, the ferocious efforts conceded a penalty resulting in Rob White being sin binned, Worthing used their numerical advantage to earn another penalty shortly afterwards. This was within kicking range and Worthing took the points extending their lead to 27-15. In the final 5 minutes Chinnor conceded a lineout but also saw Rob White return to the field. The opposition lineout was stolen and a penalty awarded, shortly followed by another and a Worthing player seeing yellow. Ollie Pell handled the pressure well to ease the ball into touch inside Worthing’s 5 metre line. Unfortunately, Chinnor weren’t able to capitalise on this opportunity. The final whistle came signalling the end of the U17’s National Cup run, the final score: 27-15 to Worthing. Both teams showed great class but Chinnor simply weren’t as clinical in attack. Despite the defeat, they have finished within the top four teams in the country and have given everything to do the club proud.