CHINNOR 39 – HENLEY 20
Both teams knew the importance of the game to set up the season so the degree of intensity at the start was not surprising.
It was Henley who applied the early pressure with Chinnor endeavouring to play some expansive rugby to clear their lines. They were playing against the wind so this was a sensible approach.
The game opened up when Bentley made a clever break before putting in a well-judged chip ahead for Phil Chesters to win the chase to the touch down after just 2 minutes, Bentley failed with the conversion.
Play then became a little frenetic before Henley replied with a penalty from some 35 metres by Connor Murphy. This was swiftly followed by a powerful surge from the Henley pack resulting in Harry Burn scoring with Murphy adding the extras. A trademark Kieran Goss try under the posts put Chinnor back in front
Chinnor were now looking quite potent with ball in hand resulting in Henry Lamont scoring with his first touch of the ball after replacing the injured Phil Chesters. After a lull in proceedings another delightful move saw Orisi Nawaqaliva touch down under the posts on the stroke of half time, with Bentley adding the extras. This gave Chinnor a half time lead of 26 - 13.
The second half began with Chinnor opting to kick for goal with Bentley slotting over two penalties. Jamel Hamilton then made his mark by setting up Will Bordill to once again go under the posts for Chinnor. Interchanges then become commonplace with Henley beginning to become dominant up front. It was no surprise when towards the end of the game the referee awarded Henley a penalty try following a succession of infringements by the Chinnor scrum.
This was hard fought game played in a good spirit with maybe the score not totally reflecting the flow of the game as Henley had territorial domination. Chinnor’s scrum half, Greg Goodfellow , was man of the match producing several darting runs turning defence into attack.
Peter Davies, the Henley coach commented, “Enjoyed the day. The game was played in a good spirit. The difference between the sides was at half back. We left 3 scores on the paddock. Chinnor line breaks were clinical”.
Matt Williams said “With the ball in hand we looked dangerous. Our defence was top drawer.
Next week Chinnor are away to London Irish Wild Geese
