Category: Sports News

SOLL Leisure and Fox FM are challenging would-be rowers to beat a world record by covering the distance to row the Atlantic in just five days.
The current record is 33 days, 7 hours and 30 minutes.

You can go to Thame Leisure Centre, Oxford Road, Thame, or any one of the Soll Leisure centres, and do your bit on one of the designated static rowing machines.

Fox FM’s Thunder Crew will be out on the streets getting everyone involved and will be in Thame on Tuesday, September 30. If you help them to break the world record you could win a years membership with Soll Leisure, and everyone that takes part will also receive a FREE 7 day trial.

The challenge starts from 8am on Monday, September 29, until Friday, October 3.

Thame Leisure Centre, Oxford Road, Thame. Tel 01844 215607.

THE glorious weather on Saturday was more fitting for cricket than rugby. However nobody foresaw the cricket score that Chinnor 2XV were going to amass against their Canterbury Shield League 2 rivals Barking.
The outcome of this game was always going to be of interest because, last season Chinnor came second best in both home and away fixtures. This year the two clubs faced each other on the same day as the First teams were meeting in National Three south.
The gauntlet was thrown down by the 2nds in the eight minute when skipper Rob Fenwick stole the ball at a Barking line out inside their 22. The ball was quickly fed to eventual man of the match James Serrano to power over for the first of his three tries. In all Chinnor scored 4 tries in the first half with only a successful penalty in reply from Barking. Chinnor led 26 ? 3.

The emphasis of the team talk at the break was to step up support and team work to complete the job. Consequently the Essex side could not live with Chinnors speed of play, handling and decision making orchestrated by Harry Sutton playing out of his normal position at fly half. Even an unusual sin binning of Chinnor new boy Tom Jones failed to let Barking grasp a hold on the game.

The second half saw a further six tries and five conversions to complete the rout at 66-3. Two of the tries came from the elusive outside centre Tom Sheel. Skipper Rob Fenwick touched down under the posts, after a particularly smooth piece of interplay between pack and backs demonstrating great support play and handling skills.
A great result and after last week a superb team effort.

Steve Halson (Picture Peter Matthews)

Photo: Serrano

JOSH Rose from Racquets Fitness Centre in Thame has been awarded “Junior volunteer of the month”.
Sue Downhill from the club says, “Josh has been a great volunteer. He has encouraged a lot of teenagers to continue in the sport who we might have lost without such a ?cool? coach”.

Josh will be starting university later this month, in Leicester; and we wish him every success in his studies.

Also, Cath Wood from Witney has won the adult award for her tireless effort and dedication (over many years) to the Junior section of the Oxfordshire Squash Racquets Association (OSRA) . If you’ve been to a junior tournament or squad then the chances are that Cath has organised the venue and run the event!

A sincere and huge THANK YOU to both Cath and Josh.

If you know of a deserving individual that you wish to nominate for either the junior or adult volunteer of the month award, then please contact your area manager. The awards are a national programme run by England Squash to recognise the hard work of volunteers helping with Squash and/or Racketball.

CHINNOR RFC pts v Barking 19 pts – Match report.
Chinnor had to dig deep into their reserves to hold out against constant pressure in the last 10 minutes of the game. The necessity of fielding a strong bench was amply illustrated as Chinnor were able to call on Harry Jackman (making his first appearance after a serious knee injury last season), Bob Baker, Alan Cawston and Chris Rowley in the last quarter of the game.

Chinnor took the lead in the 5th minute when Richard Williams, who had a steady game throughout, put in a speculative kick which saw the ball bounce kindly, on a surprisingly rock hard surface, into the hands of Pip Seymour who raced 40 metres to score under the posts for James Cathcart to convert. Cathcart then added a well struck penalty to give Chinnor an early ascendancy. It was then the turn of Barking’s fly- half Harry Owens to reduce the arrears with a penalty. Chinnor went further ahead with a delightfully worked try from a set piece.

Moving the ball at pace, Williams entered the line to put Alex Wallace over for his first Chinnor try. With Cathcart adding the extra points, and kicking a penalty minutes later Chinnor had opened up an 18 point lead. Unfortunately Seymour had to leave the field with a foot injury caused by the hard surface. This enforced change saw Trevor Powell come on to play in the centre with Richard Williams going onto the wing and Alex Wallace reverting to full-back.

A penalty goal from Owens pegged Chinnor back. This was frustrating from a Chinnor point of view as they were penalised for handling the ball in the scrum,on their put in,right on the stroke of half- time, after defending a series of scrums with a Barking feed.So at the half – time whistle Chinnor were leading by 23 points to 6, with Barking looking forward to a wind advantage in the second half.

Barking were soon on the score sheet after the interval with a brace of penalties from Owens within 8 minutes of the restart. It was then all Barking and it came as no surprise when Redmond Newbury forced his way over the line after a succession of forward surges by the Barking pack. With Owens adding the extras Barking were just 4 points behind and it was game on.With Cathcart going close with two long range penalties only to be thwarted by the wind, and Richard Williams being brought down by a high tackle by Bob Batho, for which he was yellow carded, some two yards from the line, Chinnor were showing much resilience.

With time slipping away, far too slowly for Chinnor, Barking had to get over the Chinnor line. It was here that Chnnor showed they had strength in depth when they were able to substitute tired legs with a quality bench.
With Barking unable to breach the Chinnor defence, the referee blew for no-side and Chinnor, deservedly so, had notched up their first points of the season.

Photo: David Jackson was named man of the match for Chinnor although the whole team deserve praise for their efforts.

THAME Tennis Club held it’s Junior Club Tournament Finals Day last Saturday, September 13, with over 40 entrants taking part.
First on court were the under 8s, with the eventual winner being Eddie Bruce-Morgan. Keir Hayden was a close second by only 4 points.

Meanwhile in the Under 10’s tournament, Daniel Patey had a good win over Alfie Guard to become the Club’s new Under 10’s champion.

The boys Under 14 matches were started earlier than scheduled due to the large number of entries and many close matches were played out during the day. In the final, Sam Fisher played Tom Worthington with Sam coming out as the winner.

All the courts were full for the whole afternoon with the Under 10’s, girls Under 14’s and both boys and girls Under 18’s.

The girls Under 14’s section involved a close battle between two sisters with Roos Bruggink winning the title by only 2 games over her sister Noor.

Meanwhile in the boys Under 18 tournament, their brother David managed to come runner up to Josh Batty who in winning the title, didn’t drop a set all afternoon. The girls U18 title was won by Niamh Fleming with Jennifer Tolson being the runner-up.

All the trophies and prizes were presented on the day. For more details on the Club’s junior coaching programme, please visit the Club’s website at
www.thametennisclub.org.uk.

MATCH REPORT: September 13, 2008 – Score: Thame United 1, v Rayners Lane 1.
Thame United are now without a game until September 27, and will spend most of the time between now and then wondering just how they failed to secure three points against a Rayners Lane side that produced only one shot on target in the whole game.

Buoyed by the return of striker Tom Goffe, United opened brightly and could have taken the lead in the first minute when Matt Miller saw his effort go wide of the post. As it was, it was Rayners Lane who took the lead in their first attack, as the new 3-5-2 formation for Thame was exposed down their left and a cross to the unmarked Kiren Thomas saw the striker head the ball firmly beyond Searl in to the top corner of the goal.

United responded well to the set-back, with Miller putting a header just over the bar from a cross from Luke Ricketts. With Goffe and Miller combining well, and Connelly down the Thame right beating the opposing left back with ease, it only seemed a matter of time before the equalizer would come. It looked to have arrived in the 24th minute when Connelly made another run to the by-line before cutting the ball back to Miller who, with back to goal, flicked the ball between his legs only to see the ball rebound off the post with the keeper well beaten. Connelly then went close as he sprinted beyond his marker and forced the keeper to make a good save low to his left.

United started the second half in similar vein, forcing Rayners Lane on to the back foot. Substitute Jack Green, who replaced the injured Miller just before half time, saw a header from 8 yards go just over the bar in the 47th minute, before his goal bound shot was blocked by a defender two minutes later. As Thame pushed forward, Mark West replaced Mark Jones and opened-up the Rayners Lane defence on a couple of occasions, but still Thame could not find the equalizer. However, with time running out Thame scored that elusive goal in the 83rd minute. Connelly was fouled on the right and Luke Ricketts crossed an inch perfect ball for Goffe to powerfully head home, giving the keeper no chance. The final few minutes saw both sides push forward for a winning goal, but in the end Thame had to settle for a draw, and will see the result as two points lost rather than a point gained.

Thame United: Searl, N.Rhodes, Thompson, Cowan, Jones (West (Newell)), A.Rhodes, El-Kassir, Ricketts, Connelly, Miller (Green), Goffe

Thame United Man of the Match: Ben Connelly
Photoo: Tom Goffe scores the equaliser for Thame in the 83rd minute.

THAME UNITED RESERVES began their season with a trip to Wootton Bassett Town in the Chairmans Reserve Challenge Cup. Finding themselves 2-0 down at half time, United battled well to ensure a 2-2 score after 90 minutes. In extra time, Wootton Bassett Town again took the lead with a dubious goal, before United again equalized. However, it was not to be for Thame as they lost 4-3 on penalties.

Thame United Youth Team top the Allied Counties Northern Division after two games. Following their hard fought victory 3-2 against Buckingham Athletic in their opening fixture, United destroyed Witney United in their second league game 6-1 with goals from Brougham (2), Meredith, Sherif, Hickling and Smail. United face Wokingham & Emmbrook in the Preliminary Round of the FA Youth Cup, with the tie due to be played on Thursday 25th September at AFC Wallingford (7:45pm kick off)

LOCAL people from Thame and Haddenham turned out on Monday around mid-day, to cheer on the contestants of this year’s Tour of Britain cycle race.
First over the line in Wenman Road, Thame, in the sprint was Ian Stannard, racing in the Great Britain team, who was almost four minutes ahead of the peleton.
Caught here on camera as he pedalled through Thame, is Edval Boasson Hagen (Norway), racing for Team Columbia, who was the winner of both yesterday’s (Wednesday’s stage 4) and today’s stage in the Dalby forest, finishing in Scarborough.

MARIA Lawton achieved a very impressive double at Thame Tennis Club?s Finals Day on Sunday, by winning both the Ladies Singles and Ladies Doubles titles.
In her first final at the Club, Maria teamed up with Jo Kelly in the Ladies Doubles to defeat last year?s winners Clare Carder and Fiona Pidgeon in a high quality match 6-3 6-2.

Maria then took on last year?s champion, Fiona Pidgeon in the Ladies Singles final and in a very closely fought, three set match of fluctuating fortunes, won the first set 6-2. Fiona, not wishing to relinquish her title, fought back to win the second set 6-2 but Maria then won a very tight third set to win the match and secure the title by the score of 6-2 2-6 7-5.

In the Men?s Doubles final, the established pair of Richard Bradley and Neil Morgan had too much experience for the new pairing of Steve Nannery and James Trueman, both of whom were appearing in their first Men?s Doubles final (and James in his second final of the day). Richard and Neil won by two sets to love 6-1 6-4 and reclaimed the Championship that they had last won in 2003, having been runners-up last year.

Richard, having previously had a very impressive win in the semi-finals, then went on to face Chris Duffy in the Men?s Singles final.

Following on in the tradition of the Men?s Singles finals over recent years at Thame, this match was played to a phenomenally high standard by both players, with Chris Duffy (who previously has been a club and playing partner colleague of the US Open Finalist, Andy Murray) ultimately proving to be too strong for Richard Bradley and winning his first title at the Club by the score of 6-2 6-1.

Earlier in the day, James Trueman also secured his first title when he partnered Terry Merry to a 6-1 6-2 victory over Marek Wojtan and Sue Whale in the Mixed Doubles, with Marek and Sue also appearing in their first final.

The trophies will be presented at the Club?s Dinner Dance and trophy presentation evening to be held at The Oxfordshire Golf Club in November.

The Junior Tournament finals will be held at the Club on Saturday 13th September – with refreshments available throughout the day for spectators – please visit the Club?s website at www.thametennisclub.org.uk for details.

The Club will be playing throughout the year, the winter league matches are about to commence and for all membership enquiries, please call Sue Whale on 01844-352387

PHOTO: MARIA Lawton (right) and Fiona Pigeon

OPEN WEEK! 29th Sept ? 5th Oct, 2008. Free Gym! Free Squash! Free aerobics! Free Sauna?s!
Racquets fitness centre will be opening its doors to the public in aid of Whizz-kidz and Squash Week.
Throughout the week there will be Personal trainers on hand to train, coach and motivate!

Exhibition games, Circuit training, Tournaments and much, much more!

Highlights include:

Friday: The Young, The New, The Old and The Awesome squash exhibition 4:00pm

Saturday: Squash and Nosh 4:00pm till 7:00pm, live acoustics and the Black and gold party and charity auction 8:00pm till late Members and guests only!

Great membership discounts all week!

All day Saturday & Sunday: Indoor Bouncy castle, free for all Racket-ball, coffee morning, tea and cake!

For more information Call: 01844 261754

Drop in! or visit our website:
www.racquets-fitness-centre.com

MATCH SCORE: London Scottish 45 pts Chinnor 3 pts
When the National 3, South fixture list was published and Chinnor were designated their first game away at London Scottish, they were well aware of the task that faced them. Already heavily sponsored and an announcement that a further