Chinnor Colts overwhelm Witney

With no bench, the Chinnor 'A's set off for their first division encounter at Witney in West Oxfordshire. More players were not available as the Colts 'B's were playing at home (winning against Newbury 'B's), so it was all hands to the pump!

The scoring was opened by Ben M who went over following a series of great offloads. 0-7. This was followed by Max M who picked the ball from the back of a breakdown to go over for his first 0-12. Witney then responded by scoring two tries before the half time whistle, in part from Chinnor taking their eye off the ball, in part due to the hosts seizing their opportunities. 14-12.

The second half saw Chinnor recover first for Max M to go over for his second, off a well timed pass from Chris B at fly half. Then came a try from captain Harry B following what can only be described as some of the best play from the team this season. Great hands, including a classy offload from contact put the score at 14-26.

Next to cross the whitewash was Ben G who bulldozer-ed his way through the defence from a quick tap. Last of the Chinnor scores came from Max M who went over for his third. Ben S converted six out seven attempts, the only one missed being from the touch line. 14-40 with minutes left on the clock. Witney were beaten, but still had drive left in them and they put it to good use to score in the last play of the match. Final score 19-40.

Mentions go to Ollie S who, at full back, used all his pace and made a try-saving tap tackle, Gus B and Ed M who cleared ruck after ruck. Oli D and Harry R were solid throughout in the front row. As ever Harry B led by example and kept the team focussed with Josh A controlling the forwards at scrum half. If it sounds like it was all forwards play, it certainly wasn't with Dylan T and Toby C making plays at centre and Joe H and Ben S on the wings.

The physical nature of the game was taking its toll with some changes forced on the Witney team and a couple of walking wounded amongst the Chinnor ranks. However none of the Chinnor Colts came off and throughout worked as a cohesive team. Players were rightly proud of how they had played and had treated the travelling supporters to a delightful display of rugby.