Category: Sports News

MATCH REPORT: National 3 SW – Saturday, October 23, 2010; Chinnor 38 vs Cheltenham 15.

Without ever hitting top gear, Chinnor comfortably saw off Cheltenham by 38 points to 15, scoring six tries in the process and a valuable bonus point.

Chinnor started brightly with their first try a winger?s special from fleet footed Pip Seymour. Straight from the restart, Chinnor worked the ball to number 8 Alex Fan who, with surprising pace, sped along the tram lines to dot down in the corner. Cathcart converted and with 12 minutes on the clock, Chinnor were 12-0 ahead.

Cheltenham were next to score with an unconverted try from Richard Morris on the 17th minute, after a mix up in the Chinnor midfield. Two minutes later, Chinnor?s scrum half Prescott fielded an intended touch finder about 12 metres inside the Cheltenham half. Threading an intricate line through Cheltenham?s massed ranks, Prescott?s speed saw him dot down Chinnor?s third try under the posts leaving Cathcart an easy conversion. Chinnor?s fourth and bonus try came from a forward drive with Cawston grounding the ball for the home side. With Cathcart?s conversion, Chinnor now led 26-5.

The next 10 minutes belonged to Cheltenham with a second try from Morris, converted by Mike Wilcox who shortly afterwards slotted a penalty goal for the Tigers as the half time whistle sounded for a 26-15 lead to Chinnor.

The second half proved to be a little less frenetic than the first half, with the Chinnor defence preventing Cheltenham scoring further. Chinnor?s influential centre Matt Goode had to be replaced at the start of the first half, after failing to shake off the effects of an off-the-ball incident of foul play. Chinnor?s fifth try was from Harry Jackman who shortly afterwards had to leave the pitch with an ankle injury. Cathcart?s conversion gave Chinnor a 33-15 lead. Ian Stock was then credited with Chinnor?s sixth try as the home pack began to press the visitor?s line. The introduction of Whelan for Stock shortly afterwards then increased the pain for the Tigers as the match reached its conclusion with a 38-15 victory for Chinnor.

Cheltenham must be credited for their never say die attitude and willingness to attack at pace at every opportunity.

Chinnor will be disappointed at the two breaches in their usually reliable defence but will be pleased to have scored six tries with a gear to spare. The forced replacements in the second half seemed to disrupt Chinnor?s poise although the new players contributed well with Devine busy on the deck and imperious at the line out. Seymour was threatening throughout and back rowers, Hastings and Fan, had influential matches for Chinnor whose tight five were very solid in all that they did.

Scorers: Chinnor: Seymour T; Fan T; Prescott T; Cawston T; Jackman T; Stock T; Cathcart 4C

Cheltenham: Morris 2T; Wilcox T, PG

By: Bill O’Donnell

WITH the score 0-0 after 90 minutes. last night’s FA Cup replay between Thame United and Pool, went into extra time.

Poole Town then scored the winner with five minutes remaining. Thame?s best chance apparently came with Aaron Rogers’ volley just wide on 70 minutes.

Match reports on both of the Poole Town games will be posted shortly.

NATIONAL 3, South West – September 25, 2010 – Match Report by BillO’Donnell: In a fitful and injury riven match, Chinnor eventually prevailed against their Berkshire opponents Redingensians by 22 points to 10, thanks to three tries from centre Matt Goode.

Right from the kick off, Chinnor had to rely on their defensive game against an attacking Redingensians side who had most use of the ball. However, the first score of the match came from a rare foray into Redingensians half when Matt Goode slipped around the blind side to open Chinnor?s account. With a touchline conversion from Hewitt, Chinnor were 7-0 up with 12 minutes played. In the 20th minute, Chinnor lost their first player of the day to injury when No 8 Mowbray limped off to be replaced by Adam Hastings.

With Jackman moving to the No 8 position, Chinnor began to gain greater mobility and involvement in the match. Immediately after the substitution, Chinnor were down to 14 when hooker Tattersall was adjudged to have killed the ball. The resultant penalty attempt from debutant ?Gensians fly half De Jager from in front of the posts, might have hit the corner flag if it had travelled any distance at all.

However, Redingensians kept up their attack on the Chinnor line and, on the 23rd minute, tight head Baker barrelled over for their first try. The conversion attempt from de Jager was wide of the mark. In a promising counter attack, Stoop went down heavily and was stretchered from the field. Shortly afterwards, Chinnor?s pressure led to a successful penalty goal from Hewitt to give Chinnor a 10-5 lead going into half time.

Shortly after the restart, Chinnor?s Powell, on for the injured Stoop, caused the referee to reach for the yellow card to reduce Chinnor again to 14. Seizing the one man advantage, Gensians, from a rolling maul, scored their second try with Castell scoring. The kick was again missed and the hapless de Jager was immediately replaced by Brown.

With the match tied at 10-10, Pickett then went off with knee trouble to be replaced by Stock. A poorly thrown pass from Gensians was chased by Goode whose harrying caused both Redingensians defenders to fumble the loose ball allowing Goode to casually pick up the ball and dot it down for his, and Chinnor?s, second try. The conversion was missed and Chinnor lead 15-10.

Redingensians continued to attack but Goode ruined their day with a late try when his break through the centre and his strength in carrying himself and two defenders over the line earned him his hat trick. With Hewitt?s conversion, the days scoring was finished with Chinnor winning 22-10.

Redingensians will rue their handling errors and their lack of a place kicker and will trouble many other sides this season. Only some last ditch tackles prevented further scores for them ? but Chinnor can tackle well at times.

Chinnor had another bits and pieces game with limited possession of the ball. Jackman on his move to No 8 cleared up a lot of wayward ball and created several turnovers. Tattersall after his long lay off is getting back to his best and was defensively strong. Well done to Joe Winpenny who was needed to play all three front row positions during the game. The star was undoubtedly Matt Goode whose speedy and muscular determination brought home the goods for Chinnor.

Hopefully, all parts will click soon but winning ugly will have to do for now.

Scorers:

Chinnor: Goode 3T; Hewitt 2C, 1PG

Redingensians: Baker T; Castell T

Chinnor team: Williams, Corpe, Goode, Stoop (Powell 30), Serrano, Hewitt, Hopwood, Winpenny, Tattersall, Pickett (Stock 47), Hutchings, Smith, Jackman (Hastings 67), Harrison, Mowbray (Hastings 20)

Replacements: Stock, Hastings, Powell

PICTURE: Matt Goode

THAME TORNADOES 31 Vs Psycho Physios 12 – The Tornadoes arrived at their match on Wednesday evening feeling confident, but at the start of a new season you can never underestimate the opposition. Physios came out strongly at first, with both teams playing a fast paced game. Tornadoes soon took control though and set the pace for the rest of the match.

As Tornadoes settled into the game, we saw some excellent shooting from the attaching partnership, playing their first game together. The defence was also strong across court, and Physios had to work really hard to get the ball into their attacking third. Tornadoes maintained their game into the third quarter, showing good positional play and creating lots of scoring opportunities.

The final quarter was sealed by an excellent defensive performance, getting a great number of interceptions and forcing missed passes and held balls. These were then converted by a steady mid court and a determined attack. GD Sheena earned player of the match for her outstanding efforts. A great second game of the season!

Team: Hannah White (captain), Sheena Maguire, Karen Fowler, Lisa Sydenham, Lyn Palmer, Sarah Piddington, Helen Hann and Emma Young.

HURRICANS 48 Vs Southcott 22 – Thame Hurricanes repeated their winning form on Wednesday night, beating Southcott convincingly 48 -22. A confident Hurricanes team made their mark from the first whistle. Hurricanes led from the first quarter with awesome shooting from Vanessa Hake and Becky Froud. Excellent mid court play by Mel Rose, Penny Caudle and Carol Storey meant Thame dominated the game and kept possession well.

Substitutes Donna Jones and Shelley Weeks helped to continue the strong play. The goals kept coming for Hurricanes but Southcott shooters were in excellent form and took every chance they were given. Defenders Sue Farrow and Lyn Hopwood helped keep the Southcott score down with some excellent intercepting and blocking play. Hurricanes looked confident and strong and the whole team played well.

Team: Carol Storey (captain), Vanessa Hake, Becky Froud, Donna Jones, Penny Caudle, Sue Farrow, Mel Rose, Lyn Hopwood and Shelley Weeks.

Thame Netball Club has been funded by The Oxfordshire Community Foundation Grassroots Grants Project for the 2010/11 season.

NATIONAL DIV 3, SW – Saturday, September 18, 2010 – Match Report By Bill O’Donnell.

The sun shone at the North Hinksey but mostly on Chinnor as they comfortably defeated local rivals Oxford Harlequins 32-12.

With Prescott still out, Hopwood continued to deputise at scrum-half, Nick Harrison retained his place at open side and Ben Farr made a welcome return on the wing.

Attacking straight from the start, Hewitt soon got Chinnor on the score board with a penalty goal in the 3rd minute. Undismayed, Oxford Harlequins, in their first attack on the Chinnor line scored the first try of the day in the 10th minute when flanker Tim Knapp took a short ball to power over. With the conversion missing, Harlequins led 5-3. Chinnor regained the lead some three minutes later when Goode, with a mazy run through the centre of the field dotted down to give Hewitt an easy conversion and Chinnor the lead by 10 points to 5. Three minutes later Goode turned provider by giving Stoop a short late pass which allowed him to dance again through centre field to score under the posts. With Hewitt converting, Chinnor were now in the lead 17-5 with just 16 minutes gone.

Stoop for Chinnor was yellow carded for a late tackle on the 23rd minute and, to balance, Stewart for Harlequins was similarly carded for an early tackle just 3 minutes later.

On the 35th minute, Hopwood chipped a kick artfully into the Quins in-goal area. The hapless Harlequin full back Crapper dived to ground, missed the ball and allowed the chasing Harrison to score his first try for Chinnor to give them a 22-5 lead.

Harlequins battled strongly but found the Chinnor defence well organised until the 39th minute when Stewart brushed aside a weak tackle to score under the posts and then convert his own try to make the match score 22-12 to Chinnor. Hewitt increased the Chinnor lead with a penalty goal with almost the last play of the half to send Chinnor in with a 25-12 lead.

Shortly after the restart, Chinnor increased their lead with a scintillating move using all the backs with Farr completing the wizardry with a try. Hewitt converted to give Chinnor a 32-12 lead which was to become the final score. Serrano chased a long kick and fairly grounded the ball but the referee, well behind play, ruled the ball dead contrary to the excellent press photograph (showing a properly scored try) sadly inadmissible at this level.

In the 56th minute, Stewart for Quins was yellow carded for foul play with Chinnor?s Goode similarly punished for being on the receiving end. With most of the second half riddled with niggles and slow and mistake ridden play, the spectacle of the first half spluttered. On the 76th minute, following a period of intense pressure on the Chinnor try line, Goode received his second and the fifth yellow card of the match, this time for lying on the ball. Despite protestations of mistaken identity and a frank admission by a Chinnor front rower, the referee converted the punishment to a red card as the bewildered Goode trooped off.

Oxford Harlequins struggled to get into the match except at lineout time where they functioned well. Their backs looked dangerous at times but the Chinnor defence held sway for most of the match.

The Chinnor pack provided the platform for this victory with the front row effective and industrious throughout. The Chinnor back row were efficient at messing up opposition possession. The backs moved the ball well and the centre pairing showed moments of real promise. Hewitt with some good kicking and increasingly effective generalship kept Chinnor on the front foot.

Scorers:

Chinnor: Hewitt 2PG, 3C; Goode T; Stoop T; Harrison T; Farr T;

Oxford Harlequins: Knapp T; Stewart T, C;

Chinnor team: Williams, Serrano, Goode, Stoop, Farr (Powell 54), Hewitt, Hopwood, Winpenny, Tattersall, Pickett (Whelan 41), Hutchings, Smith, Jackman (Hastings 67), Harrison, Mowbray

Replacements: Whelan, Hastings, Powell

FA VASE SECOND QUALIFYING ROUND – BITTON 3, Vs THAME UNITED 2 – Match report by Jake Collings:

FOR the second time in three seasons Thame returned from Bitton knowing that the outcome could, and should, have been very different but for the intervention of the local referee. Whilst on the first occasion Thame fell to a 3-0 defeat, this time they were much the better team and, even without the refereeing decisions, left Bristol knowing that had they taken their chances the game would have been over long before the late rally from the home side.

The game started in lively fashion with United forcing a corner in the first minute from which the ball crashed against the bar and, after a goal mouth scramble, was eventually cleared by the home defence. Bitton then showed their own attacking credentials when a cross from the right was headed against the thame bar from six yards. However, it was United who opened the scoring after 10 minutes when Mark Jones superbly chested the ball in to the path of striker Aaron Rogers on the halfway line. Rogers then outpaced the defenders before his first effort was saved by the keeper. Likewise, the keeper saved his second effort before the ball came back to Rogers for a third time and he expertly headed the ball over the keeper. The lead, however, only lasted two minutes as a ball in from the right was volleyed beyond Barisic and in to the far corner of the net.

The game at this point was end-to-end and the only surprise was that there were no further goals in the next twenty minutes, albeit Mark Jones saw a close range header flash over the bar from a Rogers corner. Nevertheless, it was Thame who struck just before half time when a quick break saw Adam Rhodes feed Rogers who hit a superb first angled shot from the edge of the box that gave the home keeper very little chance to move before it hit the back of the net.

Expecting an onslaught from the home side going in to the second half, it was Thame who started brightest and only two minutes in to the half captain Nik Rhodes fired over from close range following a corner. Ten minutes later and Rogers was put clean through, forcing the keeper in to a fine save low to his left. Shortly after Jones did well to block a clearance from the keeper and hit the rebound towards goal before seeing his effort cleared off the line. It was all Thame at this point and twenty minutes in to the half was the first controversial moment when the keeper spilled a free kick from Luke Ricketts, Jones beat the keeper to the ball and was hauled back by the keeper. With the travelling Thame support calling for a penalty, the referee simply waved play on. Five minutes later and Thame were on the wrong end of another decision when Nik Rhodes seemingly timed a tackle on the edge of the box to perfection, only to see the referee point to the spot. The penalty was dispatched with ease. Five minutes later and Bitton scored the winner when Thame failed to clear their lines and the ball was placed beyond Barisic from twelve yards. United pushed forward in search of an equaliser with the best opportunity falling to Hoskin in the last minute who skewed his effort wide from ten yards.

United now have one of their biggest games for a number of years next Saturday as they travel to Poole Town in the next round of the FA Cup. First they have a local derby with Oxford City Nomads on Wednesday evening.

Thame United: Barisic, Barr, Way (Stallwood), N.Rhodes, Saulsbury, Braun, A.Rhodes, Hoskin, Jones, Rogers, Ricketts.

FA CUP First Qualifying Round match – 11/09/10 – Thatcham Town 0, Thame United 1 – MATCH REPORT by Bob Dixon.

THE tenacious character of the Thame United squad was again demonstrated at Zamaretto (Southern) League club, Thatcham Town, on Saturday when the underdogs progressed to the second qualifying round of the FA cup by defeating their hosts 0-1.

For long periods of the game United had the upper hand and although in the latter stages Thatcham laid siege to the Thame goal, United were the better side on the day.

The game saw the return of striker, Alex Stuart, but Thame were without influential midfielder, Adam Rhodes. The opening exchanges were fairly even but it was not long before the visitors started to create chances. In the 17th minute, Stuart was unlucky when he met a Luke Ricketts corner with a powerful header which just cleared the crossbar. Thame were playing attractive flowing football, they had the majority of ball possession, and a goal looked inevitable. It came in the 23rd minute when United were awarded a free kick near the half way line on the right. The Nick Rhodes kick found Stuart who, despite having his shirt pulled, collected the ball, juggled it, turned and side footed it pass the home keeper from about sixyards – a quite superb individual goal involving determination and some nifty footwork.

A few minutes later, Aaron Rogers was unlucky not to increase the lead when his strong shot was deflected wide. Thame keeper, Paul Searle, was called into action just before half time when he came out and bravely claimed the ball from the feet of a striker advancing on goal.

The home side came out fired up for the second half and immediately brought on two substitutes. Two minutes after the restart, one of them, Carl Self, hit a well-placed shot to the top right hand corner of the Thame goal forcing a quite brilliant save from Searle. Thame countered and Rogers just failed to contact a Ben Connelly cross with a diving header. After this Connelly, whose tricky runs were causing the home defence problems, was strongly marked by two defenders.

For a while, ball possession was 50/50 with good chances at both ends. The home side hit the Thame post and Steve Newell cleared the ball off the Thame goal line, whilst at the other end, a Stuart Braun header cleared the bar and a Stuart Barr shot was just wide. As the minutes ticked by Thatcham mounted a series of attacks and with five minutes to play, Self should have equalised when faced with an open goal, but thankfully his hurried shot was high. The final minutes were frantic but Thame defended well and the ball was in their opponent’s half when the final whistle blew.

The next round is scheduled for Saturday 25th September.

Thame United: Searle, Barr, Newell, N Rhodes, Saulsbury, El-Kassir (Stallwood), Connelly, Braun, Stewart (Jones), Rogers (Hoskin) Ricketts.

PHOTO: Alex Stewart who scored the Thame goal at Thatcham.

MATCH REPORT By Jake Collinge: Monday, September 6, 2010 – BINFIELD 2, THAME UNITED 0

WITH both sides cancelling each other out in the opening half it was somewhat inevitable that the outcome of the match would rest on refereeing decisions and so it proved in the second period.

Thame had started the stronger of the two sides in the first half, testing the home defence with a number of crosses without forcing an opening. As the half progressed, Binfield came back in to the game, but with the centre back pairing of Martin Brown and James Saulsbury marshalling the Thame defence well, Binfield failed to create any goal scoring opportunities. Indeed, the best chance of the half came a minute before the break when Luke Ricketts crossed to Ben Connelly 10 yards from goal who had time to chest the ball down before seeing his effort clear the cross bar.

Five minutes in to the second half came the first controversial decision. Aaron Rogers played a first time ball through to strike partner Tom Hoskin who sprinted clear of the defence and, as he was about to shoot from inside the penalty area, was caught from behind by the chasing defender. As the vociferous Thame following called for a penalty the referee, much to the surprise of the majority in the ground, simply waved play on. A short while later Hoskin, following a goalmouth scamble, saw his initial shot cleared and as he went to hit the rebound he was pulled to the ground. Again, neither the referee nor the assistant saw fit to award a penalty.

This proved costly for Thame as five minutes later Binfield were awarded a penalty of their own when Steve Newell was adjudged to have pulled back the home striker. Carl Davies confidently beat Paul Searl with the spot kick. Thame were now chasing the game and pushed bodies forward in a bid for an equaliser. From a Thame attack, and with the ball ricocheting around the Binfield penalty area, Binfield broke quickly down the Thame left and crossed to Davies on the edge of the penalty area whose strike hit the post and, unfortunately for Thame, rebounded straight to Jamie Suarez who placed the ball beyond Searl. Thame continued to press forward in search of a goal but ultimately failed to penetrate the home defence, and were left ruing two refereeing decisions that influenced the outcome of the game.

Thame United: Searl, N.Rhodes, Newell, Saulsbury, Brown (Barr), El-Kassir (Jones), A.Rhodes, Connelly, Rogers, Hoskin, Ricketts.

United have their biggest game of the season this Saturday as they travel to Southern League side Thatcham Town in the FA Cup. Thame, who have already beaten Shrivenham and Lydney Town to progress to this stage, will have top scorers Alex Stewart and Stuart Braun back in the squad as both have been unavailable, and will be looking to cause an upset against higher league opposition. Kick off is 3pm at Riverside Park, Thatcham.

PHOTO: Courtesey of www.getbracknell.co.uk
Binfield player, James Rogers, fires in a shot in the lead up to the second goal against Thame on Monday night

NATIONAL SOUTH WEST Third Division – Saturday, September 4, 2010 – SCORE: Newton Abbot 21, Chinnor 21 – MATCH REPORT:

After a very promising start against new-comers to the League, Newton Abbot, Chinnor did well to escape with a draw. On their first visit to Rackerhayes, Chinnor started full of promise, playing the match mostly in the Newton Abbot half and with most of the possession of the ball.

An early indiscretion from the All Whites gave Chinnor their first penalty of the match through the boot of Ben Hewitt. This was repeated some five minutes later to give Chinnor a 6-0 lead. Chinnor then squandered a certain try when the last pass was woefully executed. However, Hewitt stepped up for another penalty goal to give Chinnor a 9-0 lead.

Newton Abbot was struggling in the scrum but remained competitive at the tackle and breakdown to deny Chinnor any chance of a try in the first half. In the last minute of the half, Newton Abbot scored their first points of the match with a penalty goal from full-back Mike Saxton to go in 3-9 down at the break.

Having weathered the first half Chinnor storm, Newton Abbot came out full of vim and vigour and, four minutes into the half, scored their first try in National 3 SW, courtesy of fly half Andy Birkett. Saxton duly converted to give the All Whites the lead for the first time in the match by 10 points to 9. With a much more even contest, Chinnor went back into the lead by 12 points to 10 from a penalty goal from the reliable Hewitt. On the 56th minute, Saxton, with a penalty goal, restored the all Whites lead, now 13-12. Hewitt again stepped up to give the lead back to Chinnor with a penalty goal. Minutes later Saxton reversed the lead with a penalty goal to give Newton Abbot a 16-15 lead. Two minutes later, Hewitt changed the lead back to Chinnor with another well struck penalty goal.

Five minutes from time, Newton Abbot scored their second try of the match with winger Thor Normann getting on the end of a sweeping backs move. With the conversion falling short, Newton Abbot had a 21-18 lead and four minutes to go for a fairytale start to their life in National 3 SW. However, Chinnor’s saviour Hewitt denied the home side with a long-range penalty to give the final score of 21-21.

Chinnor will be disappointed with this result after their bright start to the match. After the initial 20 minutes, Chinnor seemed to slow down and looked distinctly rusty in most facets of the game. Sam Jones for Chinnor was the outstanding player making several telling breaks but receiving slow support. Too many slow rucks allowed Newton Abbot to get back into the match. All in all, it looked like the first match of the season where execution and decision-making were not as refined as is needed in competition at this level.

New boys, Newton Abbot did well to cope with their retreating scrum and get themselves back into the match. With two tries to Chinnor’s none, the All Whites gained the moral victory and on this showing should do well at this level.

Scorers:

Newton Abbot: Birkett try; Normann Try; Saxton 3PG, 1C

Chinnor: Hewitt 7PG

Chinnor team: Williams, Seymour (Serrano 75), Goode, Powell, Shiel, Hewitt, Burns, Stock (Winpenny 50), Cawston, Pickett, Hutchings, Smith, Jones, Hastings (Fan 50), Mowbray

Replacements: Winpenny, Fan, Serrano

FA Cup First Preliminary Round – Thame United 2, Lydney Town 1 – Saturday, 28/08/10 MATCH REPORT by Bob Dixon.

THAME United progressed to the next round of the FA Cup at Wallingford on Saturday when they defeated Gloucestershire based Lydney Town 2-1. They will play away to either Thatcham Town or Witney United, who drew on Saturday, in the next round. The game is scheduled for Saturday 11th September.

Thame had the better of the opening exchanges and took the lead in the 7th minute. Following good work in midfield, the ball was played to Nik Rhodes on the left and he hit a perfect low cross to Luke Ricketts, on the edge of the area, whose first-time shot found the back of the visitors net. At this stage, Thame had about 70% of ball possession, were looking dangerous and It seemed that the home side would record a comfortable victory. Lydney, of course, had other ideas and as the half progressed they grew stronger and, just before half time, had two good scoring chances which, fortunately for Thame, they squandered.

The second half was fairly even. On 50 minutes, the visiting goalkeeper miss-kicked a back pass in the 6-yard box, but managed to recover milliseconds before Aaron Rogers pounced. The equaliser came on 54 minutes. The visitors took a corner on the right which a Thame head nodded out to midfielder Jon Kear who hit a well-placed shot from 15-yards giving goalkeeper Milan Barisic no chance. Thame were on the back foot for a while, before recovering and creating some good chances themselves. It looked as if a replay was likely but, with 5 minutes to play, a goalmouth scramble resulted in the ball coming out to Stuart Braun who hit a strong 20-yard shot through a crowded penalty area into the net. The goal was awarded, and a visiting defender was booked for handling the ball on the goal line. The final few minutes saw the Thame goal under siege but the visitors were a spent force, and united held on comfortably until the final whistle.

Thame United: Barisic, Cowan, N Rhodes, Saulsbury, Brown (Jones), Braun, Connelly, A Rhodes, Stewart, Rogers, Ricketts.