Bournemouth Lions sponsored by
Wood of Bournemouth
Chinnor RFC 38 v 19 Bournemouth RFC
The weather was grey, overcast and threatening with a strong South-Westerly wind blowing
more or less straight down the pitch. Underfoot the pitch was well grassed and firm.
Bournemouth kicked off from the Westerly end and thus with the wind.
From the kick-off, Bournemouth threatened down their left but an early scrum showed some
ominous signs that their forwards would be hard pressed to contain their counterparts.
Chinnor resisted that early pressure and forced their way into the Bournemnouth half where
Bournemouth were caught offside at the ruck/maul and Cathcart found touch on the
Bournemouth 22-metre line. From there, the Chinnor forwards drove for the line and
although Bournemouth were able to resist initially, Chinnor regrouped and captain Hutchings
was driven over for the first score after just four minutes. Despite much of the play being in
the Chinnor half with Hardcastle in particular pressing them back with chips into space or
quickly-taken penalties left wing Huxford was proving to be a handful with his sharp pace.
Nonetheless, Bournemouth had an opportunity to score when they won a penalty, albeit
when Chinnor knocked the ball back from a Bournemouth line-out but the forwards were
through quickly enough to rescue the situation. Flynn, however, pulled his attempt wide of
the nearside post. The Bournemouth threes continued to try to find a way through a wellorganized
Chinnor defence but it was Kiely who made the dent with a typical charge off the
back of the scrum and Chinnor were once again penalized. A fit of pique by a Chinnor player
in throwing the ball away was punished by his side being pushed back 10 metres. Flynn
found a good touch down the left on the Chinnor 5-metre line. A poor throw in the difficult
wind meant Forrest was not able gather the ball cleanly resulting in a Chinnor scrum. From
there they ran it out down their right. The ball was hacked through but Hardcastle in chasing
back was not able to secure the ball inside his own 22-metre and the ball was whipped left
into the hands of Huxford who gleefully dived over under the posts. Cathcart added the two
points and their reward for their second visit to the Bournemouth half was a second score
and they led 12-nil after twenty-six minutes. Bournemouth were slow to react in chasing the
kick-off and then knocked it on anyway only to see openside flanker Crombie, who had been
seen limping earlier, forced to retire with a twisted ankle. Seward came on in his place but a
reshuffle showed Cawley moving to the openside; Kenny moving to the blindside and Seward
moving alongside Forrest at lock. Chinnor made another dangerous attack down the right as Bournemouth found it hard to contain the Chinnor pace on the wings and they won a scrum
on the Bournemouth 5-metre line. However they knocked the ball on at the base of the
scrum and then conceded a penalty on Bournemouth’s put–in and Flynn gratefully cleared
the danger. Despite much of the play being in the Chinnor half their threes, and particularly
Huxford, were a constant threat. It was down his flank that Bournemouth were again caught
off-side at the maul and Cathcart found touch on the Bournemouth 5-metre line. Again,
however, Bournemouth win a penalty at the line-out and Flynn, again, was able to clear
down his right. From the line-out Bournemouth broke left though Gray and Flynn and the
supporting Payne had enough pace and strength to get to the line and hold off would-be
tacklers to score wide out on the left. Flynn kicked an excellent goal in this difficult wind to
make the score 7-12 with just a minute or so to go to half-time. Staright from the kick-off
Kenny made a great break and almost got to the line but a revitalized pack of Bournemouth
forwards kept up the momentum and with a great series of off-loads moved the ball left and
there was prop Wareham on hand to score wide out on the left for Bournemouth to go into
the break all-square at 12-12.
For the second successive week, Bournemouth turned round to face the wind and they made
their task even harder by giving away what can only be described as a ‘soft’ try as a
stretched defence enabled the Chinnor threes, after a dangerous thrust by Huxford down his
wing, to move the ball wide to their right for the strong Powell to dive over. Cathcart pushed
his kick across the face of the goal and must have been disappointed not to see the wind curl
it in.
Hardcastle made a break but was forced into touch and Chinnor immediately countered
with Huxford again proving to be much too quick for the Bournemouth defence enabling him
to run round under the posts to make Cathcart’s task much easier for Chinnor to lead 24-12
just seven minutes into the half. Using the strong wind most effectively, a long Chinnor deep
into the Bournemouth 22-metre saw a mix-up in the visitor’s defence which gave Chinnor a
scrum. They pushed the Bournemouth pack but conceded a free kick which Hardcastle took
quickly and then conceded a penalty and Bournemouth found the relative safety of a lefthand
line-out on their 10-metre line. Again the ball wasn’t straight but Hardcastle snaffles his
opposite number and Bournemouth were lucky to win the ball back. This set up a promising
Bournemouth three-quarter attack when Chislett made the half break to get the ball to Gray.
He almost got in on the right but Bournemouth were able to retain the ball and they worked
it back left. Payne in turn almost made it to the line but again the ball was moved further left,
and for Davies to chip the ball in behind the defence but Chinnor were able to touch down for
a 22-metre drop out.
|
|
A long kick found touch on the Bournemouth 10-metre line. Again the
ball was not straight but Bournemouth won the ball against the head. However the
Bournemouth threes found it difficult to progress against a robust Chinnor defence and
knocked the ball on to bring the move to an end. Chinnor in turn attacked down the left but
Cathcart ran out of room for a Bournemouth throw. Although Forrest did well to gather the
ball, Chinnor drove the Bournemouth forwards back and won a scrum. From just five or so
metres out, Chinnor drove the scrum back and scrum-half Gustafson was able to dive over
from the base for Cathcart to convert his effort and Chinnor to lead 31-12 half-way through
the half.
From the kick-off, again it was a long kick down field that repulsed any
Bournemouth incursion into the Chinnor half. Although they did well to drive the Chinnor
forwards back from the line-out to set up another thrust mid-field the ball was lost and
Bournemouth could count themselves lucky when the final pass by the Chinnor threes was
adjudged to be forward which prevented a certain score. The strength of the Chinnor back
row was amply demonstrated when the Chinnor openside Winslade robbed Hardcastle of the
ball and Bournemouth did well to force him into touch before he could do any more damage.
Again Bournemouth lost the ball at the line-out but at least the forwards drove Chinnor back.
That didn’t stop them releasing the ball right and it was only stout Bournemouth defence
coupled with a knock-on in the maul that kept them out. Chinnor were not going to be denied
however or Huxford his hat-trick when he was put into space and ran round any
Bournemouth defence to score under the posts. Cathcart put his side 38-12 up with ten
minutes to go.
To Bournemouth's credit a typical run by Bruce, who had come on for Frost, up the
middle lifted Bournemouth spirits to mount a last ditch effort. In continuing the move Kiely
also made a typical strong run and Bournemouth, who despite attentions of the Chinnor
defence did well to retain the ball. When they were stopped down the right, they moved the
ball left where first Davies and then Forrest made desperate efforts to get over. However,
referee McCrudden had spotted a Chinnor transgression more less under the posts and, with
the Chinnor defence caught unawares, Hardcastle grabbed the ball, bounced off the referee
and dived over from just five metres. Flynn added the two points with a kick that, despite the
strong wind, went straight between the posts. It was an excellent effort all round to conjure
up the score on a very difficult day.
Again Bournemouth came back at Chinnor through Bruce
but that robust Chinnor defence saw him dispossessed in the tackle. Cathcart
unceremoniously banged the ball deep into Bournemouth territory where again the ball was
not straight at the line-out for a Chinnor scrum. Bournemouth nonetheless kept them out and
referee McCrudden blew for full time.
Bournemouth were reminded of how tough this division is when their remarkable recovery
since the beginning of November was rudely brought to an end. Our record against Chinnor,
especially at the Rectory Pavilion, is not good and this game clearly demonstrated how hard it
is to win there. They remain the only side in this division to be unbeaten at home this season
and on this form are likely to remain so. We must remember we prevailed against Cleve last
week who this week beat, then, top-of-the-table Bracknell and we are quite capable of
getting the two points that mathematically ensure we remain up this season.
Referee – Bob McCrudden, Gloucestershire. Referee’s Assessor – Dave Trewin, Devon.
Touch Judge – Steve Buffery, Bournemouth.
Bournemouth Team - 15: Domenick Davies; 14: Joe Frost (Robert Bruce 59); 13: Tim
Gray; 12: James Payne (1T); 11: James Flynn (2C); 10: Scott Chislett; 9: Sam Hardcastle
(1T); 1: Jo Burns (Troy Siaki 50); 2: Chris Ulu; 3: Tim Wareham (1T); 4: Jayson Kenny; 5:
Callum Forrest; 6: Dan Cawley (c); 7: Iain Crombie (Tim Seward 28); 8: Matt Kiely.
Scorers – Tries (3): Hardcastle (74), Payne (38), Wareham (39). Con (2): Flynn 2 (39, 74).
Milestones – Jo Burns plays, and James Payne starts, for the 50th time in all matches for
the 1st XV. Scott Chislett starts for the 50th time in The Championship. Tim Wareham scores
for the first time. With Alan Manning not playing today brings to an end his record breaking
successive-appearances record which is now set at 40. Mark Hootton held the previous
record of 35 in the seasons 1989-1994. Sam Hardcastle equals Guy Spencer’s record of 67
tries scored in The Championship.
Chinnor Team - 15: Ben Hewitt; 14: Pip Seymour; 13: Trevor Powell (1T) (Richard Williams
69); 12: Darren Oxley; 11: Phil Huxford (3T); 10: James Cathcart (4C); 9 Owen Gustafson
(1T); 1: Joe Winpenny; 2: Alan Cawston; 3: Tom Whelan (Bob Baker 51); 4: Matt Hutchings
(c) (1T); 5: Sam Black; 6: Andrew McGuire; 7: Zane Winslade; 8: Ed Rixon (Adam Hastings
67).
Scoring sequence – 4m: Chinnor try (Hutchings) 0-5; 26m: Chinnor goal (Huxford try,
Cathcart con) 0-12; 38m: Payne try, Flynn con 7-12; 39m: Wareham try 12-12; 40m: Halftime
12-12; 42m: Powell try 12-17; 47m: Chinnor goal (Huxford try, Cathcart con 12-24);
59m: Chinnor goal (Gustafson try, Cathcart con) 12-31; 69m: Chinnor goal (Huxford try,
Cathcart con) 12-38; 74m: Hardcastle try, Flynn con 19-38; 80m: Full Time 19-38.
VIEW
THE CURRENT LEAGUE TABLE |
