Narrow loss for Chinnor Colts 'A' team

Oxford Harlequins have always been close rivals, vying for the mantle of County Champions with the current U17s for many seasons. Over the last couple of years they had prevailed, though were not always as strong at U18s. Today they put their best foot forward and turned out with a full compliment of 22 skillful and strong young men.

Undaunted despite a smaller pack and fewer replacements, Chinnor set about the task in hand in workmanlike manner. An early converted score by the visitors was the jolt that the Colts needed and they then proceeded to play in Quin's half for the next 20 minutes. Despite a good work rate, they could not quite complete their moves and failed to penetrate the visitor's defences. Chinnor continued to look the stronger of the two sides and finally managed to level the score with Ben S going over the line. 5-7 going in the break.

The second half turned with Quins in the ascendancy. They piled the pressure on, forcing a number of penalties and repeatedly pushing Chinnor back. As soon as the hosts won the ball back they had to work hard to exit from their half, only to repel the next push. Eventually Quins went over for their second try. Chinnor had not given up the fight by any means and they came back on the offensive with a series of powerful runs from the forwards eventually releasing Dylan T to score. Converted by Ben S. The clock now only had three minutes to run and, back with the run of play, Quins put Chinnor under pressure and squeezed over the line on the final play of the match.

Late call-ups included George L, Oli D and Alfie C. The team are indebted to Archie D and Dylan T who, having agreed to provide cover on the bench, were called into action. The whole team put in more than a good shift. There were no doubt some areas where they did not capitalise on their position and they gave away some unnecessary penatlies, but they were up against a strong team.

We wish the long list of injured Colts (from rugby and unrelated activities) a speedy recovery and look forward to next league match on 10th November. In the meantime, Chinnor Colts play both Tring and Shipston-on-Stour in friendly, away matches.