Chinnor U14 Girls lose on the road...

As Chinnor had 18 on parade, and the Oxfordshire opposition only 13, players were transferred 'on loan' to facilitate a 15-a-side contest. And a contest it was from the start to the finish.

Chinnor opened with a good catch and carry by Caitlin M (#7), followed by some effective rucking by the rest of the pack. Chinnor was recycling the ball well and Gosford were on the back foot. Good work from the rest of the back row in Erin W (#8) and Violet R (#6) was setting the tone and gave scrum half Rennie F the opportunity to distribute the ball.

The early highlight was a counter-ruck that won the ball back for the Black & Whites (playing in Gold), which surprised everyone on the pitch and on the touchline! Instrumental in this endeavour was our front row (more of them shortly) and second row stalwarts of captain Ava B and Eleanor H (later replaced by Lily F).

The effort paid off and Chinnor opened the scoring with a well worked team try, with fullback Hope B crossing the whitewash. Conversion by Caitlin W, playing at fly half. This gave Chinnor some confidence to keep doing the same.

Scrums were mostly solid, despite an occasional early home team push, and front row of Daisy C, Summer I and Kayla W had to content with a strong and robust opposition. Later, Zoe P and Grace N came on as front row replacements and continued the good work. The scrum count was high and the pitch mostly quite heavy going.

At times it was route one, with the ball not making it out to the wing as much as it could have, but nonetheless there were some fantastic carries by Daisy T (#12), Pietra V-O (#13), Dulcie R (#11) and Ellie B (#14). Despite the opposition making all of their tackles, there was a confidence in the Chinnor backs they they would have support.

The best line-breaks were made by the ever-evasive Hope B (#15) and the strength of Caitlin W (#10), with others in close contention. In attack, the opposition were persistent and were very effective in offloading the ball in contact. Despite an impressive defensive effort, Gosford ran in six tries to Chinnor's one.

To put the match into context, the previous encounter, at Kignsey Road, saw Gosford run in ten tries with the score stopped before half time. It is probably also fair to say the score-line slightly flattered the hosts, with a couple of lucky / unseen breaks. The players, coaches and supporters were proud of their achievements and look forward to the next fixture.

Our thanks go to Lily F, Zoe P, Kayla W and Eleanor H who all spent a half in a Gosford shirt.

Player of the Match: Daisy C