Category: Sports News

Chinnor 2 XV, 35 Pts. Vs WestcombePark, 19pts – LEAGUE MATCH – HOME November 14, 2009 – MATCH REPORT: CHINNOR Seconds played their fifth home league game of the season against another national two league team old rivals, Westcombe Park, and made it five out of five.

Chinnor started the first half playing into a very strong wind and knew they had to keep hold of the ball. From the start both teams played well in the conditions and a very slippery ball, but Chinnor did appear to be the more organised pack again. The forwards dominated all the set plays from the start, the rucks, pick and drive and running mauls. The boys were relentless – never giving Westcombe Park time to settle, and it was no surprise that Chinnor took the lead with a penalty by Sam Angell.

They could have added a couple of tries if they had just been a little more patient, but Park kept coming at Chinnor but they did not use the wind to their advantage. Angell was successful with another penalty. In the 33rd minute Park got a converted try and five minutes later another try via a gift, and the first half finished 12 points to 6 in Westcombe Park favour against the run of play.

Within five minutes of the start of the second half, Chinnor gave away another soft converted try and the lead had gone out to 19 points to 6. Chinnor then started to use the wind to their advantage with some intelligent kicks to the corners and the forwards stepped up the work rate which paid off. Within a few minutes Ed Devine scored and Angell converted. Sam Angell scored the second try and converted giving Chinnor a slender at 20 points to 19. Angell followed with another penalty and a try by Sam Ludgate converted by Angell. Chinnor increased their lead to 30 points to 19.

Andy Millburn then added another try in the corner and Chinnor finished the game 35 points to 19 a great second half. All sixteen players had very good games and Jonny Vaughan who plays for the Vets played scrumhalf. Sam Angell kicked well and I am sure learned a lot from Jonny. Ed Rixon was just awesome but man of the match this week goes to Ben Ramsdale for his outstanding play week in and week out.

Well done to the seconds for once again giving the Chinnor spectators yet another wonderful exhibition of good rugby to watch.
Tries: Ed Devine, Sam Angell, Sam Ludgate and Andy Millburn
Conv; Sam Angell x 3
Pen: Sam Angell x 3

Walter McGuicken

CHINNOR Rugby Football Club’s Under 16 Squad (Season 2008/2009) are the 2009 Oxfordshire Sports Awards Junior Sports Team of the Year.

The team was crowned at a glitzy awards evening organised by the Oxfordshire Sports Partnership, on Friday, November 13, at the Kassam Stadium.

The team beat off very stiff competition from the Abingdon Vale Swimming Club Under 18s and the Banbury Rugby Club Under 11s to take the title of Junior Sports Team of the Year, a category sponsored by Oxford City Council Leisure Services.

Chinnor Rugby Football Club?s Under16 Squad (season 2008/2009) have had an extremely successful year having won the Oxfordshire League Championship trophy in March 2009, beating their old rivals, Henley RFC at Henley?s ground. They also won the International Under 17 competition when the Squad travelled to Provins in France, on the early May Bank Holiday.

The Under 16s have become role models at Chinnor Rugby Football Club, and have put a marker down for all younger age groups to aim for. Many of the squad have been playing together since the Under 7s Mini-Rugby at Chinnor, and as a result of solid coaching from the team of volunteers has built an unrivalled team spirit together. All of the boys have developed into outstanding athletes with a strong sense of playing by the rules and supporting their fellow team members.

Councillor Bob Timbs, Executive Board Member for Leisure and Sport, presented the team with their trophy in front of over 320 guests. The team received a surprise gift from Dave Larham, Community Rugby Manager, London Wasps, who invited the whole of the winning team together with their coaches to watch London Wasps in action versus Llanelli Scarlets on Sunday 31st January 2010 at Adams Park, High Wycombe

The awards aim to recognise the sporting talent and dedication we see across the county throughout the year. The awards featured special recognition awards for Oxfordshire clubs who had achieved Club Mark and Charter Standard Community Club accreditation.

An informal world record attempt for the most number of return shots played in 60 seconds was attempted by Oxfordshire Table Tennis duo Karl Bushell (ranked No.1) and Neil Hurford (Ranked No.4). They put up a great performance and achieved 160, falling just short of the record which stands at 173 return shots played in a minute.

The 35 finalists in the 12 award categories were chosen from over 80 nominations in 2009. The amount of talent and true devotion and enthusiasm for their sport that was seen on the evening was enormous.

MATCH REPORT: League game 7/11/09 – Chinnor 0, Thame United 2.

THAME United won Saturday?s local derby at Chinnor in a closely fought match. There was little to choose between the two teams in the first half but Thame were the more inventive after the break and deserved their victory.

United had the better of the opening exchanges, but then the home side got into their stride and began to threaten the Thame goal with Lewis Craker heading over and Tim Rantle forcing a good save from Thame keeper, Lee Orkney. At the other end, Ben Connelly laid on a low cross from the right only to see the ball intercepted by Chinnor keeper Ben Taunton milliseconds before onrushing striker Mark Jones could knock it into the net. United?s best chance of the half came just before the break, when Aaron Rogers rose to meet a high cross from the left but just failed to connect. The game was goalless at half time.

Whatever manager Mark West said to his squad during the break seemed to work, as they were far more focused in the second half. Their first goal came in the 53rd minute when Jones pulled back a high ball from the left by-line into the path of onrushing midfielder Sam Cowan, who headed home confidently from 12-yards. Thame continued to press, and Stuart Barr was unlucky to see his strong 20-yard shot hit the side netting. At this stage it was one was traffic and Chinnor rarely threatened Orkney?s goal. With just over 20 minutes remaining Connelly made another of his trademark runs on the right and, finding his way blocked near the corner flag, sensibly laid the ball back to Steve Newell. The defender floated a good cross into the penalty area where 3 Thame players were waiting for it, but it was Rogers who met the ball and skillfully headed down into the corner of the home goal, giving Taunton no chance. A few minutes later Jones found the back of the home net but his effort was rightly ruled offside. Chinnor eventually ?woke up? and put together some good moves, at one point forcing 3 consecutive corners. The final few minutes were fairly even with both Rantle for Chinnor, and Thame substitute, Stuart Braun going close.

The win moves Thame into 4th league place.

Thame United: Orkney, Newell, Meredith, Higgs, Hocking (Braun), Cowan, Connelly, El-Kassir (Way) Jones (Goffe), Rogers, Barr.

United have a series of away league games coming up. They do however entertain Premier league club, Old Woodstock Town on Tuesday 18th November (7.45 pm) in the first round of the Oxford shire Senior Cup

THAME Tornadoes returned to their winning form on Wednesday night, 04/11/09, beating the Psycho Physios 29 ? 9.

A motivated Tornadoes team were determined to take the win after losing their last two games. Thame started well and took the lead early with some great shooting. Excellent mid court play by Mel Wilkins, Rachel Wilkins and Lisa Sydenham meant Thame dominated the game and kept possession well. The goals kept coming for Tornadoes but Psycho Physios fought hard and defended well at times.

The Thame defenders made it difficult for Psycho Physios to score with some excellent intercepting and turnovers.

Despite missing several of their key players, Thame looked confident and strong and the whole team played well.

Player of the match was awarded to both GK Hannah White and GD Karen Fowler for some outstanding circle defending.

Team: Hannah White (captain), Karen Fowler, Lisa Sydenham, Mel Wilkins, Rachel Wilkins, Vanessa Hake, Katie Houghton and Carol Storey.

Image courtesy of skipptinks.co.uk

MATCH REPORT – Thame United 1, Milton United 2; October 31st, 2009.

UNITED created their very own Halloween nightmare as they lost their unbeaten league record to a Milton United side who fully deserved to take the three points.

Not only was the result disappointing, the manner of the performance will have left the Thame manager, Mark West, deeply frustrated as United failed to impose their normal high pace on the game. With the United midfield starved of possession in the opening exchanges it was Milton who started the brighter of the sides, although United could have taken the lead in the 4th minute when Jones was caught in two minds on the edge to the box, choosing to dummy the ball when a shot looked the better option. However, it was United who took the lead in the 14th minute. Luke Ricketts delivered a free kick close to the bye-line in to the box that was cleared by the Milton defence up towards the halfway line. Left back Mitchell Meredith headed the ball back in to the danger area where captain Dave Hocking flicked the ball in to the path of Thame man of the match Aaron Rogers, who from the edge of the box fired the ball in to the bottom corner of the goal giving the keeper no chance. For the remainder of the half it was Milton who were the stronger of the two sides, with experienced striker Anthony Alleyne going close on a couple of occasions.

The second half opened with Milton again on top but United had the chance to increase their lead on 60 minutes when Jones was unlucky to steer a header just wide from 8 yards. The Milton pressure finally paid five minutes later when they won a free kick on the right hand edge of the box that Ryan Williams hit powerfully in to the six yard box and, with Searl unsighted in a congested area, the ball found its way straight in to the back of the net. Milton then missed a chance to take the lead 10 minutes later when they somehow managed to place the ball over the bar from two yards. In the 89th minute, and just as United thought they were going to maintain their unbeaten record, Milton scored the winner. A ball was played to the edge of the Thame area that two defenders went for. They failed to clear the ball, which was then played in to the box where the unmarked Williams gave Searl no chance from eight yards.

In the end, it was a disappointing way to lose an unbeaten record, although United remain well placed in the league. They will have a chance to secure some revenge over Milton on 14th November. Before that, there is the small matter of a big local derby against Chinnor on Saturday 7th November.

Both teams will be fielding players who have at one time played for the opposition which will give the game an added edge if, indeed, one was needed.
Kick off is at 2:15pm at Station Road, Chinnor.

Thame United: Searl, Barnett, Meredith, Hocking (El-Kassir), Higgs, Cowan, Rhodes, Connelly, Jones (Braun), Rogers, Ricketts (Barr)

Chinnor 2 XV 17 Pts. Vs Redingsians 17 Pts: MATCH REPORT – 24th October 2009.

CHINNOR seconds were away to Redingensians seconds in Reading this week. Despite a change of eight players from last week?s team, it was still a very good team.

The game started with the Chinnor boys playing into a very strong wind, and from the start they put a lot of pressure on the home team. Chinnor sadly lost a lot turnover ball illegally, this allowed Redingensians to use the wind to their advantage. A good clearance kick by them over the fullback?s head had Chinnor having to chase the ball back into their own twenty two, the ball bounced at 90 degrees, straight into the hands of the chasing players which gave them an easy run to score under the posts for a converted try.

But that was not the end of it, within five minutes a carbon copy of the first try occurred again and before Chinnor knew it they were 14 points to nil down having had most of the play.
The Redingensians forwards were a lot more aggressive than Chinnor?s and kept turning over a lot of ball when Chinnor were in their twenty two. Chinnor kept on pressing and were finally rewarded in the 15 minute, when James Serrano chased a grubber kick by Sam Angell, and picked it up and scored under the posts and it was converted by Sam Angel Chinnor kept up the pressure and were successful again when Francois Wait intercepted a pass and ran from the half way line to score under the posts, which was also converted and the score was now tied at 14 points each. Both sides competed well and it was only just before half time that Redingensians were awarded a dubious penalty that put them ahead by 17 points to 14.

Chinnor started the second half well and equalised within five minutes with a penalty. The refereeing appeared to be somewhat strange in that the game was not able flow. Chinnor appeared to be enjoying the best of the exchanges, but were unable to get any points on the board.

About ten minutes before the end Chinnor were awarded a penalty in front of the posts, but, for some inexplicable reason they decided to kick for the touch line endeavouring to get a try and five points when three were enough to win the game.

Sadly a very disappointing result for Chinnor.
Man of the match Sam Blewitt

Walter McGuicken

Chinnor Oxen (Vets) XV 22pts v Andover 3rd team 3pts: MATCH REPORT – October 17, 2010.

Fielding a number of changes due to unavailability of a number of vets stalwarts, the Chinnor Oxen borrowed a number of the 4th team players, as their match was cancelled this week. This brought a youthful flavor to the senior team at Chinnor. At one stage fielding the oldest and the youngest player that Chinnor put out this weekend on the same pitch – some 42 years between Bas Corpe and Elliott Bevan (17) and Doug Humphries(59) meant that the opposition were confused as to exactly who they were playing.

Experience and size were definitely on the side of the visitors, which seemed to tell in the first 20 minutes, despite Andover?s pressure and dominance during the first 20 minutes they still only came away with one penalty kick, Tony Howells, Steve Bridges & Lukas Schmidt doing a sterling job in defence to deny a score.

When in possession the ?Veterans? of Chinnor looked masterful, with John Vaughan and Dave Wells forming an experienced and solid 10/12 partnership as a stable platform to launch attacks using the youthful outside centre/wing combination. Indeed, Bas Corpe should have scored a hatful if it hadn’t been for a couple of last minute tap tackles.

Chinnor?s luck came after about half an hour when a kick ahead left Andover’s Full Back with a red face as the ball bounced for him to collect only to bobble between his legs for a speedy Dave Wells to pick up and dot down under the posts, collecting the conversion meant that the Vets went 7 ? 3 ahead. A late penalty goal for Chinnor left the scores 10 ? 3 going in to the break.

The 2nd half saw more of the same with Winger, Jason Lang showing some pace to outsprint Andover?s defence to score in the corner. By this stage the visitors were wondering what they had to do to gain and retain possession as the Chinnor back row were turning the ball over at will, not to mention the hooks against the head taken by Mike Wiltshire in the scrum despite conceding a couple of stones per man.

Try of the match came in the 2nd half when Messers Vaughan and Wells worked their magic in the mid field to send the ball out to Bas Corpe who using his speed and footwork to either dummy or outpace pretty much the whole of the Andover back line to sprint some 60 ?70 metres to score under the posts.

Our thanks go to the ?guests? Elliott Bevan, Bas Corpe, Guy Woodesdon, Lukas Schmidt, Matt Lock, Gordon Fennell & Jason Lang, Rob Atkin, Elliott Bevan, Steve Bridges, Ken Catchpole, Bas Corpe, Tim DeGlanville, Gordon Fennell, Tony Howells, Doug Humphries, Jason Lang, Matt Lock, Kenny Lue, Jeremy Philpott, Dave Ratcliffe, Lukas Schmidt, Craig Smith, John Vaughan, Dave Wells, Mike Wiltshire, Guy Woodeson, Paul Wright

Man of the match: Steve Bridges

MATCH REPORT – Maidenhead 17 pts V Chinnor 52 pts; Away match – Saturday, October 17, 2010.

THIS was a good performance by Chinnor against a spirited, but occasionally disjointed, Maidenhead outfit. Toby Prescott made a welcome return to the Chinnor ranks following serious injury in the first game of the season.

Sam Jones came in at No 6 and a late change saw Ben Farr come in for Pip Seymour who could not shrug off a heavy cold.

The home public-address system welcomed Maidenhead onto the field with the prediction that this would be their first win of the season. This appeared to have the required effect as with the home crowd roaring their support, Maidenhead did not allow Chinnor a touch of the ball before scoring first with a well executed move resulting in a chip into the large in-goal area where the speedy Alex Cannon won the race to the touch down.

Chinnor levelled the score in the 12th minute by creating a large overlap with Richie Williams going over. Following some good approach work, by the back -row in particular, James Serrano was afforded the space to go over in the corner and put Chinnor ahead in the 21st minute. James Cathcart fell short with his two conversion attempts from wide out into a deceiving wind. Chinnor went further ahead with a sparkling try by Ben Farr in the 33rd minute.

Maidenhead had been camped on the Chinnor line for some time with a succession of forward drives failing to breach a stout defence. They then opted for plan B and spread the ball across their three-quarter in front of the Chinnor posts. A misplaced pass was grabbed by Alex Wallace, who passed the ball onto Ben Farr which took him on an arcing run to score under the posts allowing Cathcart the simplest of conversions. To their credit, Maidenhead came storming back with a try from Simon Standfast when Chinnor failed to secure the ball straight from the restart. So, with a seven point interval lead and the breeze at their backs, Chinnor looked in control.

The second half tended to be one-way traffic except for the occasional foray into Chinnor territory. Ben Farr went over for his second try when he pinned his ears back to go over for the archetypical wingers try in the corner. It was now all Chinnor with their youngsters to the fore. Sam Jones, as well as running strongly with defenders hanging off him, snaffled up all the loose balls. Anything on the ground near to him was inevitably a Chinnor ball. Ben Farr increased the Chinnor lead when the increasingly influential Toby Prescott exploited a gap to put him over.

It was then the turn of the forwards to get in on the act when Sam Black burst through the middle to put the supporting Joe Winpenny in for a try. An intelligent chip by James Cathcart in his own 22 gave Farr the opportunity to score his fourth try. Before scoring though, he had to compete to take a high bounce swerve around the first defender, wrong foot the full-back and outpace the covering defence -a wingers job really!

Chinnors final score came in a bizarre manner when, from the resultant restart, with his team lined-up on one side of the field , the ball was was kicked to the other side of the park, did not travel the required eight metres, the couple of Maidenhead players in the vicinity ignored it allowing Richie Williams a free catch, to then run half the length of the field without a hand touching him to score. James Cathcart who was now well on song with his kicking made this his 6th conversion. A touch of sloppiness with poor first-up tackling allowed Maidenhead in for the final try by by Simon Standfast who did not stop working hard all afternoon.

Many positives came out of the game for Chinnor. The individual performances of Sam Jones and Ben Farr; Toby Prescott became better as the game progressed, giving the team much impetus; Sam Black and Harry Jackman complemented each other in the second row with Joe Pickett; Alan Cawston and Joe Winpenny a solid front row; James Cathcart had his best game of the season to date with both his place kicking and kicking out of hand back to his high standard.

Chinnor’s first up tackling needs to improve. You do not get a second bite of the cherry against better sides. Big game next week. 1st XV vs. Old Patesians, K:O 3:00pm

Onwards and upwards.

LEAGUE GAME – Saturday, October 17, 2009: Thame United 3, Penn and Tylers Green 2 – MATCH REPORT

Thame United should have won this home game comfortably as they were by far the better side. Defensive errors in the last 30 minutes however, gave the visitors two goals, and although Thame took the points, the score was unnecessarily close.

Thame dominated from the start. Their first goal came after six minutes when they were awarded a free kick just outside the penalty area on the right. Aaron Rogers, who had a particularly good game, took the kick and found Mark Jones who cleverly headed the ball down, pass the keeper from 5-yards. Seven minutes later, it was 2-0, again from a free kick. This time the infringement was central, just outside the area. Adam Rhodes took the kick and with a deceptively short run up, placed the ball in the top left of the goal.

At this point, the visitors had not mounted an attack, and a high scoring home win looked on the cards, but although Thame created several more chances, they were fruitless, and it was still 2-0 at half time. Such was their control however, that Thame keeper Lee Orkney was virtually untested and Thame had forced 11 corners to the visitors’ one.

The first part on the second half was similar with United putting together some good moves. Thame?s third came six minutes after the restart when Rogers played the ball from the left to the more central Stuart Barr, who took the ball to the left by-line and hit a perfect cross to allow Ben Connelly to head home off the underside of the crossbar from close range.

Although Thame continued to have more possession, they lost concentration in defence and allowed visiting striker, Ricci Putnam the space to run at goal unmarked and slide the ball pass the oncoming Orkney. On 76 minutes, yet another defensive slip allowed substitute Dan Craggs to gather a long ball and hit a 20 yard shot pass Orkney. In the last few minutes, the home side looked more likely to increase their lead than concede any more. Just before the final whistle, visiting central defender Dan Arnett received a straight red for a bad tackle.

This was the first league game in two months where Thame have failed to keep a clean sheet. The defensive problems need to be addressed quickly if they are to stand any chance of promotion.

Thame United: Orkney, Barnett, Meredith, Higgs, Hocking (El Kassir), Cowan, Connelly, A Rhodes, Jones (Braun), Rogers, Barr.

United visit Holyport next Saturday, The next home game is on 31st October when Milton United, who have only lost one game this season, are the visitors.

THAME Racquets and Fitness club played host to the annual, National Racketball Doubles Championship over the weekend, October 10/11, 2009, with a much improved entry on previous years of 25 pairs.

There were three separate events which included Men’s, Ladies’ and Mixed categories all of which saw some fantastic matches.

In the Ladies’ event the formidable pair of Lucy Murphy and former WISPA professional, Stephanie Brind, secured the title beating Karen Bealey and Kathryn Milne 3-0.

In the mixed event there were some really tough matches which saw defending champions Jim Lord and Julie Lawton narrowly lose out to Andy Murphy and Stephanie Brind (3-2), who went on to take the title.

The Men’s event saw a strong competitive draw consisting of thirty two players and included main and plate events. After some scintillating matches, the plate event was one by Mark Webster and Surbiton based Rob Lelliot.

The main event witnessed some top quality performances which eventually saw top seeds, Jim Lord and Matt Baker, overcome some tough opposition to seal the title, beating former PSA professional Steve Bateman and his partner Mark Scott 3-0 in the final.

The tournament was run by Simon Martin in conjunction with England Squash and Racketball, and both partners were overjoyed with the event’s success. Simon commented: “We are always keen to host events of this nature and look forward to doing the same in the future.”

Full Scores were:
Ladies’ Final
Lucy Murphy and Stephanie Brind Beat Karen Bealey and Kathryn Milne
12-10 11-7 11-6

Mixed Final
Andy Murphy and Stephanie Brind Beat Jim Lord and Julie Lawton
8-11 11-9 9-11 11-6 11-8

Mens Plate Final
Mark Webster and Rob Lelliot Beat M. Thomley and P.Osborne
8-11 11-8 11-7 11-7

Mens Main Final
Jim Lord and Matt Baker Beat Steve Bateman and Mark Scott
11-5 11-6 11-8

PHOTOS: Matt Baker and Jim Lord, Steve Bateman and Mark Scott