Chinnor U14 Girls outplayed by strong opposition

With the temperature back down to usual February standards, Chinnor U14 Girls set out to play the home leg of their friendly match - organised under the auspices of the Bucks Invitational League. In the previous encounter, Chinnor had failed to score, so the target was straightforward.

The game started briskly with both teams denying the other any freedom to move. South Bucks Ba-Bas used their strong ball carriers to good effect, but the Chinnor defence was solid, with tackles made across the board. When the visitors shipped the ball out wide, they were met with the same defence. Chinnor looked good with ball in hand, though South Bucks Ba-Bas were not letting anyone through! The half finished 0-12 with Chinnor's #10 going off injured.

The start of the second half saw a hastily re-organised Chinnor, leak a try from the restart. They were then on the back foot for a while, still tackling, but perhaps with a little less zeal. This was in the main enough, and there were some excellent carries by Chinnor - both in the forwards running into a tall and strong pack and in the backs attempting to weave around capable defenders. A further two tries were conceded, albeit with some heroic tackles to prevent more, before Chinnor rediscovered their mojo.

This, coupled with the opposition's increasing penalty count, saw Chinnor repeatedly camped yards away from the tryline in the last 15 minutes of the game. The first breakthrough was from Chinnor's outside centre, who dived salmon-like from a penalty, awarded on the 5m line, to score. The second was Chinnor's full-back, following a similar infringement in the final minute of the match. Both of these endeavours followed lots of hard graft from the team to make it into the opposition's 22.

Final score a respectable 10-33 loss. The game was peppered with knock-ons, mostly from the hard tackles by both teams and their packs had to find the strength to scrum repeatedly. The coaching team & opposition were very complimentary about the progress the squad has made and the players were justifiably proud of their performance on the pitch. The team are away to Fullerians in Hertfordshire next Sunday.

1. Kayla W
2. Summer I
3.Daisy C
4. Ava B
5. Lily F (captain)
6. Cat M
7. Eleanor H
8. Violet R
9. Rennie F
10. Jemima C
11. Ellie B
12, Daisy T
13. Caitlin W
14. Dulcie R
15. Hope B
16. Zoe P
17. Pietra V-O
18. Grace N

Player of the match: Caitlin W
Referee: Mr Alex Bond
Photos: Lisa Fincken