Category: Sports News

Thames Valley Invitational League B – Chinnor RFC RFC Oxen (Vets) XV ? 10pts v Reading RFC Rhinos (Vets) XV ? 10pts – MATCH REPORT

TOP of the league and unbeaten Reading RFC Vets paid a visit to Kingsey Road on Saturday (21/02) to visit an impressive and much improved Chinnor RFC Vets side. Having the Chinnor Vets team captained by former Reading Club Captain Dave Wells added spice to the encounter.

Last time the two sides met Reading ran out 26 ? 0 winners. This time however an impressive squad had been assembled, strengthened by Conor Begley returning to a Chinnor number 10 shirt after a number of years in the wilderness. He looked like he?d never been away.

The conditions were perfect for rugby which boded well for a mobile Chinnor Vets side. However, Reading scored first blood with a converted try 15 minutes or so into the first half which was cancelled out by a break from Paul Ewens. He tackled short of the line, off loaded beautifully to Dave Wells in support who crossed to score under the posts and subsequently convert his own try with about 10 minutes remaining in the first half.

The half time whistle blew with Chinnor Vets being 10 ? 7 ahead following a penalty deftly converted by Dave Wells again.

The true vets of Reading were vastly experienced and gave the Chinnor Vets some more to think about in the second half. Encouragement came for Chinnor from the Reading side visibly tiring and the mobility of the Chinnor pack. Some lovely handling in the backs threatened to seal the match with another score, but it was not to be as the vast experience enabled Reading to hold Chinnor back.

With the referee visibly in trouble with a knee injury, he stopped the clock for a breather before restarting with a Reading penalty which they easily converted leveling the scores at 10 ? 10 with five minutes remaining.

Try as they might Chinnor could not breach the Reading line leaving both sides thankful for the draw.

A good number of positives can be taken from this Chinnor performance, not least some returning faces.

Drifters 2nd XV at Kingsey Road this coming Saturday should see this Chinnor Vets team secure third position in the league with four games in hand.

Chinnor RFC Oxen (Vets) XV:
Craig Jones, Craig Smith, Mike Wiltshire, Dave Ratcliffe, Dan Palmer, Paul Wright, Tim DeGlanville, Stuart Reynolds, Steve Bridges, Neal Gilbert, Tony Howells, Jon Brooks, Jeremy Philpott, Doug Humphries, Conor Begley, Dave Wells, John Sellars, Paul Ewens, Alan Beveridge, Tim Wright, Josh Hill, Andre van der Mewe, Mark Turvey.

By David Ratcliffe

LEAGUE GAME – 21/02/09 – Match report: Launton Sports 3, Thame United 2.

LAST Tuesday (Feb 17), Thame heavily defeated Prestwood, who were in 17th League place so, on paper, Saturday?s visit to 18th placed Launton Sports was unlikely to result in a defeat. Thame however lost the game in the first half when they played poorly and seemed to have little determination to win.

Many of Launton?s players looked as if they would be more at home in the first row of a scrum than on a soccer field. Their physical play, which reinforced that impression, could have been dealt with had it been faced early enough. Sadly, the referee lost control of the game and failed to protect those who were there to ?play the beautiful game? by the rulebook.

Thame opened the scoring in the 25th minute when a long free kick from the half way line found Ben Connelly on the right. He hit a low cross which the quick-reacting Mark Jones did well to knock in from six yards. The home side equalised two minutes later when a long throw in was headed on to former Thame Player, Robbie Eason, who headed past keeper Paul Searl. Five minutes later Launton were rightly awarded a penalty when a Thame player handled the ball in the area. Alex Woodfine buried the spot kick, giving Searl no chance.

Thame conceded again in the 36th minute when they again failed to deal with a long throw in, and the ball was played to James Keeble, in space, who beat Searl with a strong 15-yard shot. The teams went in for the break with the visitors trailing 3-1.

Thame?s second half performance was far better and they controlled much of the play. On 55 minutes, Pete Way hit a strong 25-yard free kick which forced an excellent save from the home keeper. Shortly after, the game was stopped for about 5 minutes whilst the referee was treated for a leg injury. His injury restricted his movement for the rest of the game and he missed many of the home side’s fouls, and simply did not see numerous ‘off the ball’ incidents. Thame pulled a goal back in the 38th minute when Dave Hocking rose above the defence to head in an Aaron Rogers corner. With about 10 minutes to play, it looked as if Thame had equalised during a goalmouth scramble following a corner, but although Thame players claimed that the ball had crossed the goal line, the stand in linesman, supplied by the home side, disagreed, and play continued.

This game was Launton?s first win of the season, and Thame?s first loss of 2009. The real looser however, was football.

Thame United: Searl, Newell (Graves), Way, Meredith, Hocking, Cowan, Connelly, Rhodes (Hoskin), Jones, Rogers, El-Kassir.

Thame entertain Finchampstead next Saturday, February 28. The visitors will be seeking to avenge a close defeat when United visited them in October.

SATURDAY, February 14; CHINNOR 2XV 29 pts OLD ALBANIANS 17pts – Match report:

The seconds arranged a late friendly against Old Albanians 2XV. On paper this looked to be an easy ride for Chinnor 2’s, the visitors flying high in Cantebury League 4 while the home side still have an outside chance of winning Canterbury League 2.

The game proved far from easy although Chinnor romped to a 22 – 5 lead at half time. Points came from tries by Hackshaw and two by young front row specialist Joe Pickett. Joes second was a sterling solo effort from 50 metres. James Cathcart in his second game back from a shoulder injury added two conversions and a penalty.

In the second half Chinnor were put under some pressure from the visitors who refused to go home without a fight. Cathcart put all the points on the board for Chinnor in the second half going over to complete an excellent break from centre Ollie Whiteside which he converted.

It was good to see the 2XV renowned team spirit back with captain Rob Fenwick back and man of the match Andy Millburn putting in a hard experienced performance.

The seconds arranged a late friendly against Old Albanians 2XV. On paper this looked to be an easy ride for Chinnor 2’s. The visitors flying high in Cantebury League 4 while the home side still have an outside chance of winning Canterbury League 2.

The game proved far from easy although Chinnor romped to a 22 – 5 lead at half time. Points came from tries by Hackshaw and two by young front row specialist Joe Pickett. Joes second was a sterling solo effort from 50 metres. James Cathcart in his second game back from a shoulder injury added two conversions and a penalty.

In the second half Chinnor were put under some pressure from the visitors who refused to go home without a fight.Cathcart put all the points on the board for Chinnor in the second half going over to complete an excellent break from centre Ollie Whiteside which he converted.

It was good to see the 2XV renowned team spirit back with captain Rob Fenwick back and man of the match Andy Millburn putting in a hard experienced performance.

This week Chinnor 2XV v Canterbury 2XV at Kingsey Road 2.30pm kick off.

LEAGUE GAME 17/02/09 – Thame United 7, Prestwood 0 – MATCH REPORT:
Thame United comfortably beat an unimpressive Prestwood side at Wallingford on Tuesday evening in a game that Thame controlled from kick off to the final whistle.

Thame were in 13th league place when the match started, with Prestwood occupying 16th, but such was Thame?s dominance that a stranger watching the game would not have thought they were in the same league.

The first goal came from a set piece in the 12th minute. Adam Rhodes took a corner, playing the ball back to Ben Connelly who hit a cross to the far post, which was headed back across the goalmouth for Lawrence El-Kassir, supported by Dave Hocking, to knock in from close range. Five minutes later Sam Cowan was fouled in the box, and Rhodes confidently buried the resultant spot kick. On 35 minutes, Rhodes threaded a good ball to Mark Jones who turned and hit a 15-yard shot giving the visiting keeper no chance. It was also Jones who got Thame?s fourth two minutes later and what a beauty it was. Stuart Barr on the left played an inch perfect ball to Jones who beat his marker to hit a looping, first time, volley over the goalkeeper?s head from about 12-yards. At half time, whist Thame went into their dressing room, unusually the Prestwood team crowded around their dug out for their team talk.

The first 30 minutes of the second half passed without Thame increasing their lead due largely to some excellent work from Daniel Little, the visiting goalkeeper. Thame brought on all three substitutes, and on 76 minutes, Tom Gough headed to fellow substitute Tom Hoskin who fired home from 5-yards. Five minutes later Connelly made a good run to the right by line before pulling the ball back to Gough who finished well from 6-yards. Goal 7 came with 2 minutes remaining. Thame goalkeeper Paul Searl collected the ball and hit a long kick which Gough back-headed into the path of Hoskin who rounded the advancing keeper and finished confidently from 15-yards. In extra time, Pete Way, who had grazed the post from a free kick in the first half, was unlucky to see another free kick ricochet off the top of the crossbar.

Overall, it was a good all round performance by Thame, who played with skill coupled with an understanding rarely seen this season. If they can continue in this vein against stiffer opposition, a top eight finish is likely.

Thame United: Searl, Newell, Way, Thompson (Meredith), Hocking, Cowan, Connelly, Rhodes Hoskin), Jones (Goffe), Barr, El-Kassir

Thame are away next Saturday, February 21 at nearby Launton Sports. Their next home game is on 28th February, when Finchampstead visit Hithercroft Stadium (Wallingford).

THAME’s largest mass, sport participation event will be celebrating its 25 year in June.

This year?s Thame 10km road race will take place on Sunday, June 28, 2009. Entry forms are available on the Thame Runners’ website www.thamerunners.co.uk.

Alternatively, runners can enter on-line at www.runnersworld.co.uk.

This year?s event is the 25th anniversary of the run, originally run in 1985 as a charity fund-raiser by the Thame Boys Brigade. Thame Runners took over the organisation of the event a few years later but kept the charitable nature ? some

BOB Baker, from Thame, who plays for Chinnor RFC, has again been selected to play for the England Under 20s.

Bob will get his second England U20 cap tomorrow, Friday, February 13, against Wales. If you want to record the match its on BBC2 Wales (Sky Channel 991)

The match kicks off at 7:00pm

Full details of Bob’s 1st cap are on the Oxford Mail web site – click on the link below:

http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sp

LAST Sunday saw Chinnor’s Phil Keavy take a First in the prestigous Martial Arts National Open Championship.

The Sifu of the Desoma School of Marshall Arts, Duncan Elliott, told ThameNews.Net about the match:

“Phil’s catergory, the intermediate under 70 kgs, is very competitive with a lot of up-and-coming fighters in the group, getting their experience before moving onto the senior catergory.
“I have been working with Phil a lot on his movement which is one of his strengths, but also giving him some good basics to attack with.
“All this Phil took into the competition arena and won his catergory, going through the quarter finals using a strong side kick, and following up with the fast hand techniques which took hin into the final.
“The conditioning work really paid off and was contributory to Phil’s well earned first place.”

The Duncan Elliott School of Martial Arts, based in Chinnor, teaches Kung fu, Taekwondo and kickboxing.
Classes available Tuesday,Friday and Sunday.

For Martial art class times, call Duncan on: 07803 630067. Non contact martial art classes are also available.”

BADMINTON clubs from Thame and Wheatley are joining together to host a Badminton Extravaganza next month at Thame Leisure Centre.
The event, to be held on Sunday March 15, between 10am and 4pm, will showcase opportunities to play badminton locally and is aimed at adults and juniors at all levels – beginners, rusty racquets, players who are looking to improve their game and those who want to move towards competitive league play.

For beginners and newcomers, there will be activities and opportunities for play throughout the day so that people can get a taste of this exciting sport. For those already playing, there will be opportunities to play alongside members of the various clubs and to find a level of play that suits them, as well as tips and advice on ways to improve their game.

Badminton is the UK?s most popular racquet sport and is only second to football in the number of people playing. It?s a sport that can be enjoyed at many levels ? the basics are not difficult to master and you don?t need to be really fit to start playing, (but as your game improves so will your fitness levels!) It’s a lot of fun and can be a great way of meeting new people. We hope that this event will reflect all these aspects of the sport.

Gold medallist on hand to give advice

During the event there will be a special guest appearance by Tracey Hallam. Tracey is the 2006 Commonwealth Gold Medallist in Women’s Singles, the 2008 National Women’s Doubles Champion (with Donna Kellogg) and competed in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. She will be on hand to give tips and encouragement, and will also play in a demonstration match.

One of the organisers, Diane Eyre from Chinnor, told ThameNews.Net: “This will be a great inspiration for all of us, but especially the younger players to see how the the game is played at a high level – it’s certainly a lot faster and very tactical!”

Full details for the day are currently being finalised, but will be posted on: www.oxfordshirebadminton.co.uk and will be available from Thame Leisure Centre.

The clubs involved are Thame Shuttles BC, Thame BC, Long Crendon BC (play at TLC), The Park BC (Wheatley) and The Park Junior BC (Wheatley).

Photo: Getty Image – Courtesy of www.daylife.com

DESPITE recent poor weather resulting in numerous cancellations and re-arranged matches, teams from Thame Tennis Club have managed to play their winter league fixtures.

In the Aylesbury League, the Ladies second team in Division 5, captained by Rosie Knight, secured a 4 sets all draw at home to Oving. This was followed by two excellent wins, both of 7 sets to 1 at home to Widmer End and Wendover respectively.
Team: A Green, L See, S March, M Izatt-Brown, A Morgan & H Richards.

Meanwhile, in the same League, the Ladies third team in Division 7, in their first winter season, began the New Year with an impressive 6 sets to 2 victory over Long Crendon.
Team: W Macgregor (c), H Richardson, J Cahill, M Lever.

Finally, also in the Aylesbury League, the Mixed Team in Division 4 have managed to play several of their matches. An exciting and long match at home to Berkhampsted just before Christmas, played in sub-zero temperatures, ended up all square at 4 sets all. Team: R Wilkins, D Munro, J Ansell (c) & T Merry.

2009 saw the teams? third draw of the season, this time at home to Aston Clinton where both Thame pairs defeated the opponents? second pair, but lost to their first pair.
Team: A Green, J Patrick, P Barfield, J Ansell(c).

A week later the team enjoyed a victory at home against Cheddington seconds, by 6.5 sets to 1.5 sets. Thame first pair, Terry Merry and team captain John Ansell, halved their first rubber against the Cheddington second pair 3-6, 6-3. They went on to defeat the Cheddington first pair 6-2 6-4.

Second pair Dawn Munro and Richard Wilkins, defeated the visitors first pair 6-0 6-4. Against the second pair they halved the first set 6-6 and then went on to win the second 6-2.

For more information on Thame Tennis Club, please go to their website at www.thametennisclub.org.uk

MATCH REPORT: Saturday, January 31 – League march: Thame United 3, Englefield Green Rovers 1.

Thame United secured their first win of 2009 last Saturday at ?home? to Surrey based, Englefield Green Rovers. The win moves United up two places to 13th in the league.

The first half was a strange affair in that it was a ?half of two halves?. Thame dominated the first 25 minutes whilst the visitors controlled the remaining 20. United took the lead in the seventh minute when Adam Rhodes passed to Ben Connelly who made a piercing run on the right before hitting a low ball across the face of the visitor?s goal which eluded two Thame forwards before being met by Stuart Barr, on the left, who coolly shot home from eight yards.

It was one-way traffic as Thame mounted attack after attack, with Connelly particularly dangerous, and a comfortable win looked a strong possibility. The tide turned in the 26th minute. Thame goalkeeper Paul Searl, who until then had been a spectator, was forced to make a good save from a long-range shot. Encouraged by this the ?visitors stepped up a gear? and Thame were force to defend. Rovers equalised in the 36th minute when a ball from the right found Enrico Rossini in space and he finished well from 10 yards.

Thame started to regain control after the break and retook the lead in the 54th minute. Connelly was again the provider, hitting a low cross from the right which both Lawrence El-Kassir and the Rovers keeper met at the near post, causing the ball to run free. Connelly nipped in to collect it and pass across the face of goal to Barr who again finished confidently. A few minutes later Searl was again on form as he got fingertips to a shot which grazed the top on the crossbar.

With about 15 minutes to play, there was a bizarre incident. Visiting midfielder, Arran Laflen, was harshly tackled by El-Kassir and referee Mr Bird reached for a card. He must however have seen something that I and other spectators did not as, rather than cautioning the Thame player, Laflen was shown a red card and sent off. Visiting players besieged the referee and he must have heard something obscene as during the protests, another visiting midfielder, Richard Sandford, was also dismissed.

Down to nine men, Rovers were no match for the home side and, with about eight minutes to play, Thame increased their lead when hardworking striker Mark Jones finished well from 10 yards. In the last few minutes, Thame had more scoring opportunities but the visiting goalkeeper made some good saves to keep the score to 3-1.

Thame United; Searl, Newell (Meredith), J Way, Thompson, Hocking, Cowan (Hoskin), Connelly, Rhodes, Jones, Barr, El-Kassir.

Thame United visit Bisley Sports next Saturday, February 7 and are at home on Tuesday February 10, when Wokingham & Emmbrook are the visitors (Kick off 7.45.