Leeds Tykes 27, Chinnor 24

CHINNOR fell just short of a morale-boosting win on the road as Leeds Tykes held on for a narrow victory in Round 5 of National 1.

With just three points separating the sides, our Men’s First XV piled on the pressure in the final minutes – however, the hosts held firm to claim their first home success of the season.

We probably would not have deserved it, but it could have gone either way, it could have been five points - instead we headed back to Oxfordshire with two bonus points and go into the rest week sitting 11th in the league table.

There is no denying it has been an extremely frustrating start to the season – but we remain positive and turn our attention to Plymouth Albion at home on October 15.

Five changes were made to the XV which started the victory over Birmingham Moseley last Saturday, with Charlie Brabham, Mark Darlington, Conor Brockschmidt, Jack Walsh and Josh Hodson coming into the side.

We started off pretty brightly, and lock Brockschmidt made metres in the centre of the pitch to launch an early attack. We continued to pick and go, sucking Tykes in and creating space out wide, however we didn’t make the most of the situation and ultimately knocked on.

We arguably should have got off the mark and instead it was Tykes who took the lead, courtesy of a 15th-minute penalty from Tighe Maxwell-Whiteley.

Our response was good and this became a trend throughout most of the match – the home side scored and we replied almost instantly.

Centre Lewis Jones and Brockschmidt carried well through the middle and skipper Ben Manning charged through to score under the posts. Fly-half Tom Price added the extras as we led 7-3 after 20 minutes.

It was a gusty day with the wind blowing from the corner of the Chinnor try-line and down towards the clubhouse end. Tykes looked to be using the conditions well and began to dominate possession and territory, with the visitors needing to be switched on defensively.

A Maxwell-Whiteley penalty reduced our lead to a point, before they scored their first try of the afternoon on 36 minutes. Full-back Kieran Davies showed fine feet and broke through on the 22, feeding centre Ben Dixon to score. Maxwell-Whiteley added the extras to make it 13-7.

However, as mentioned earlier in this report we replied instantly to reduce the deficit to just a point at half-time. We attacked off a driving lineout and wing Josh Hodson was stopped short, with hooker Darlington following up to pick up and force his way over. Price’s attempted conversion into the wind was a strong effort, but it was held up by the conditions as Leeds led 13-12.

The mood on the touchline at half-time was one of positivity. There was plenty in this game and we now had the wind to our backs, although it was not as strong as it had been.

However, after we knocked on at the kick-off, Tykes were able to enjoy early possession in our half and Charlie Venables looked certain to score after chasing after a Davies grubber only for the winger to knock on when attempting to score.

It was a let off, but moments later Leeds did get over the whitewash. Picking and going within five metres, it seemed only a matter of time and lock Jake Brady found his way over close to the posts. Maxwell-Whiteley slotted the easy conversion and now their lead was 20-12.

The you score, we score theme continued still as just a few minutes later, our third try arrived and it came through Jason Worrall, who marked his 50th appearance with his fifth of the season. Having sucked Tykes into the middle of the field, this time we did use the space out wide and Price threw a long pass for Worrall to dive over for an unconverted try.

Three points was now the difference after 45 minutes and still the theme continued.

Once again Leeds were able to get back on the front foot and found a gap in our defence, with their impressive fly-half Maxwell-Whiteley converting his own try to make it 27-17.

But back we came, with tighthead Josh McNulty scoring from close range, and Price adding the extras as the gap again closed to three.

At some point, one team was going to get a grip on this game and remarkably that was to be the end of the scoring. The final 20 minutes proved to be a tense battle, but it was not without opportunities for both sides.

Leeds came close to adding to their tally when replacement wing Seremaia Bai Turagabeci was denied by a try-saving tackle, while at the other end Worrall broke out of his own half and made it to around 15 metres out before he was tackled into touch.

Tykes had been the better side and with around five minutes to go they looked to have made certain of victory, but the home supporters’ celebrations were cut short as the referee disallowed Davies’ try after the full-back knocked on after chasing a kick down the left-hand side.

With such a slim margin separating the sides, it was all to play for in the final moments and now Chinnor found themselves on top. Those same home supporters were now concerned that victory would be snatched at the death as we hammered at the door.

Again, we sucked them in with pick and goes, but a handling error saw the attack break down. Advantage had been played, though, and we had another opportunity. With play to be restarted out wide, we elected for a tap-and-go and crashed forward in search of the match-winning score, but it just wasn’t to be. Leeds stood firm and successfully cleared out the resulting ruck which allowed them to boot the ball out of play and end the contest.

A disappointing day, but perhaps the week off has come at a good time.

Leeds Tykes: Davies, Venables, Dixon, Nu’u, Mounsey, Maxwell-Whiteley, Keith, Pleasants, Brown, Dennis, Brady, Okafor, Lloyd, Smith, Collins.
Reps: Sugars, Parker, Burke, Davidson, Turagabeci.

Chinnor: Smith, Worrall, Grose, Jones, Hodson, Price, Walsh, Brabham, Darlington, McNulty, Down, Brockschmidt, Manning, Heathman, Ryan.
Reps: Robinson, Marshall, North, Feeney, Goodfellow.