Category: Sports News

CHINNOR Rugby Club has been presented with a signed, WASPS shirt, in recognition of its outstanding support and Community Partnership with the club.

On Tuesday, (March 28), during the half-time break of Wasps’ Guinness Premiership fixture with Leeds Tykes, Chinnor RFC were presented with a signed London Wasps shirt by Alex King.

This season has seen the introduction of Dave Ratcliffe as the Thame-based club’s London Wasps Liaison and the partnership has flourished with Dave working closely with Wasps’Community Team on several projects.
The shirt will be framed and displayed within the Chinnor RFC clubhouse.

Representing Chinnor RFC at the on-pitch presentation were JP Immelmann (1st XV Hooker & Chinnor RFC CDO), Trevor Blewitt and his sons George (Under 15s) & Sam (Colts), Alan Beveridge and his son Alex Beveridge (Season Ticket Holders).

Chinnor RFC are on the verge of achieving National League status for the first time since being Founded in 1963. They are currently top of South West Division One and have two games remaining to secure the league title.

THAME United bowed out of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup in style on Wednesday evening, March 29, in an entertaining, fast paced match.
They played with 10 men for most of the game but fought for every ball and gave the Southern Premier outfit plenty to think about.

Banbury had the better of the opening exchanges and in the 10th minute, Paul Searl was forced make a good save from Banbury star Andy Baird. It was Baird who opened the scoring ten minutes later when he met a good cross from the left with a strong, well placed header. Thame fought back and were looking dangerous when a long clearance from a Banbury defender fell into the path of Baird. He beat centre back Dave Tregurtha, but was tripped by Robbie Eason as he bore down on goal. Referee Farries judged that Eason was the last man and dismissed him from the pitch.
Down to 10 men and losing is not a good position to be in, and it would have been easy for Thame heads to drop. In reality they equalised when, three minutes before half time, a Darren Moore corner was headed down to Nik Rhodes who finished clinically from 10 yards.

Banbury re-took the lead in the 58th minute when a defensive mix up between Dave Hocking and Tregurtha allowed Stuart Bridges to unleash a powerful shot from the edge of the box. Thame countered and changed formation to play with three men up front. There then followed a good spell of end-to-end football with Ben Connelly looking particularly impressive for Thame. Banbury finally sealed the match with seven minutes remaining when the tallented Baird made a good run on the right before squaring the ball to substitute Matty Gooderick who fired home from 8 yards.

Despite the result, this was an outstanding performance from Thame?s young squad who showed grit and determination throughout.
Final score: Banbury United 3, Thame United 1
Venue: Court Farm Place (Oxford City?s Ground)

Thame United: Searl, Hocking (Lane), N. Rhodes, Eason (Capt.) Tregurtha, Raja, Fisher, A. Rhodes, Moore, Morgan (Way), Connelly.

Thame United visit Sutton Coldfield next Saturday 1st April. They then entertain Bromsgrove Rovers, at Buckingham Road Stadium, on Tuesday 4th April. Please note that this game kicks off at 8.00pm.

THIS year’s Richard Wheeler Memorial Match will be held on Good Friday, at Brill Sports and Social Club.
Come and join us on April 14, from 12 noon for an Easter Egg Hunt, Face Painting, Bouncy Castle, BBQ, Cakes, Refreshments and much more.
The match will be between Long Crendon and Brill, and the proceeds from this event will go to the Richard Wheeler Memorial which raises money to support the British Heart Foundation. This year we aim to raise money that the British Heart Foundation can use to fund community heart nurses who provide ongoing support and care to people living with heart disease.

The Richard Wheeler Memorial Trust was set up three years ago to honour the life of Thame footballer, Richard Wheeler, who tragically lost his life on Good Friday 2002.
The aim of the Memorial, set up by Richard’s friends, has been to raise money each year for the British Heart Foundation.

AFTER a steady downpour had rendered the pitch something akin to a Florida swamp, the referee was of the opinion that although the surface was 70% waterlogged, it was firm underneath and Saturday’s game against Weston-Super-Mare should go ahead.
With Ed Rixon sidelined with an ear infection, Andy Milburn switched to the back-row giving Matt Hutchins his first start since his knee injury.
Weston were on the scoresheet as early as the third minute when they counter-attacked from their 22 metre line. A speculative kick ahead was fielded by
Hughes who set his threequarters moving across the park with the move ending up 10 metres from the Chinnor line. With the line-out leading to a scrummage
and a Weston put-in, James Reid, taking advantage of a Chinnor slip in the mud, glided under the posts. The added conversion and a penalty, five minutes later by Reid, put the home side 10 pts ahead in as many minutes.
With the playing conditions deteriorating rapidly, it was an uphill task for Chinnor from then on in. Chinnor then pegged back the lead when Buckley
slotted over a penalty for a Weston offside. A determined, gutsy run from Eric Brown when he picked up a loose ball in the middle of the park, saw him
pass the ball inside to Matt Buckley who fed Morgan Thompson, who took the ball at pace to score a stunning try in view of the conditions. Buckley then
missed the conversion and amidst a flurry of yellow cards involving Chase and Jones of Weston, and Hennessy and Maxwell of Chinnor, the game ended up at
13 aside and a two-point Weston advantage at the interval.
Although the referee handed out a sin-binning for four players, in no way was this a bad tempered
game as the players were penalised for technical fouls rather than violent play.
Weston in their changed kit, piled on the pressure in the first quarter of the second half with Reid missing two kickeable penalties during this period
of play. It was now becoming difficult to make any headway but gradually Chinnor made their way into Weston territory. With Weston still hanging on
to their two point advantage and just eight minutes left on the clock, Chinnor made a double substitution with Tom Whelan replacing Bob Harris and Richard
Williams coming on for Matt Buckley.
Recognising that the referee would call a halt to the proceedings without too much recourse to injury time, Chinnor were awarded a penalty with four minutes left on the clock which Williams stepped up and kicked. Weston then threw everything at Chinnor in what must
have been the longest four minutes of the season. They held on with one Weston drive being held-up literaly inches short. With no-side blown this was indeed a proud Chinnor achievement and with only two games left, one victory only is needed for promotion. They must not get too carried away but it would put the icing on the cake if they could wrap up the league in their last home game against Maidenhead.

CHINNOR Seconds beat Windsor Seconds, 39 points to nil on Sunday, making it their 11th clean sheet this season, bringing the points tally to 580 with only 77 against.
Once again Chinnor fielded nine under 20s, with Dan Cuadrado and Pete Nayler making the team for the first time and more than holding their own.
This was a very physical game with the Chinnor forwards dominating the scrums and the mauls.
The first points came in the fifth minute when Mick Grimsdell outpaced Windsor and scored under the posts, for a nice convertion by Adam White. The next 30 minutes proved to be a bit of a stalemate, with both teams attacking and defending well. However, in the last two minutes of the first half, Simon Matthews broke around the base of the scrum and forced his way over the line. Chinnor finished the first half 12 points to nil up.
Early in the second half Adam White kicked a penalty. Five minutes later, Ali Reekie broke from his own half and ran straight through Windsor and scored. Gareth Hook followed shortly afterwards with a try, due to some good forward rucking and driving. Chinnor then led 25 points to nil.
The following 20 minutes provided defensive play from both teams and nobody seemed able to break the deadlock. But then all that changed with some inspirational play from Ali Reekie who forced through the defence to score. The try was converted, again by Adam White, and Chinnor?s lead increased to 32 points to Nil.
In the last few minutes of the game, Jon Brooks scored after some great forward work and Adam White converted with Chinnor ending the game 39 points to nil.
Ali Reekie was named man of the match

Walter McGuicken

CHINNOR won the toss and gambled on playing into the strong easterly wind at Kingsey Road on Saturday, in this top-of-the-table clash against Weston Super Mare.
This paid off handsomely as their well organised
defence, with the first up tackling coming out of the top draw, proving well up to the task. It was indeed this first half defensive performance that
was the key to this important win.
James Hewitt failed to make the starting line-up with his hamstring failing a late fitness test. The versatile Rewi Tolich went to full-back with Jamie Hiscock coming in on the wing.
Weston were on the board straight from the kick-off when fly-half, Reid slotted over a penalty for a Chinnor off-side. It took Chinnor just five minutes to rein back this lead when Matt Buckley wrong footed the Weston defence to score a fine try. Right on half-time Chinnor added to their score when Sam Soane broke through to feed Darren Oxley who in turn handed on to Eric Brown who outpaced the Weston defence to score. This was a killer blow as Chinnor had the benefit of the strong breeze in the second half.

Chinnor were soon on the score sheet early on in the second half when Brown’s angled run between his centres saw him sprint 35 metres to go in under the posts. With Buckley adding the extra points Chinnor had a 14 point cushion and the luxury of the wind. They should have added to their score but some wrong option-taking, allied to delaying the final pass, kept
the try count to three. A lack of concentration in the final minutes allowed Hughes in for a Weston try.
This was a fine Chinnor performance which must be repeated this Saturday at Weston Super Mare in this back to back fixture. Should this happen, then National League Rugby could well be the order of the day at Kingsey Road next season.
Chinnor 17pts WSM 8pts
By Kenneth Vaughan

A re-appraisal of Thame United?s playing level and ambitions could be on the cards if a proposed redevelopment of the Church Farm football pitches comes to fruition.
A delegation from the Football Association, Thame Boys and Thame United have gained the support of Thame Town Council to conduct a feasibility study into building more pitches, covered seating for 250 people, changing facilities and a club house on the site.
Part of the plan would be to accommodate all the town teams, including more girls’ teams, within an enlarged Church Farm space, and lower the sights of Thame United looking to accommodate only local Thame Lads and not buy players from London, etc. This is an approach apparently adoped recently by Cirencester.
Since the sudden closure of their club house and facilities in Windmill Road, Thame United has been playing its matches at Aylesbury United’s ground.

Currently, the town council owns part of the Church Farm site, leases the rest from Oxfordshire County Council and the rest is grazing land. At present the football facilities at Church Farm use six acres and would require 16 of the sites total of 22 acres for the new development.
For the progect to go ahead, the town council would have to acquire the rest of the land from the county council.

The Mayor, Cllr David Laver, called it a ?a laudable project? but asked if there was any chance of using the all weather pitch at Lord Williams’ school. But, apparently, such pitches are not acceptable to the FA.
Cllr David Bretherton said it was:?A brilliant idea and we should be supporting it.?
The Culture, Leisure and Recreation committee agreed unanimously to support the Feasibility study.

FOLLOWING Saturday’s League match,relegation to a Step Five league is now almost certain for Thame United.
They are currently 21 points from safety and seven of their eight remaining fixtures are against teams in the top 10.

This game against Bracknell was not as one sided as the score suggests. For long periods of the game possession was 50/50 with both sides creating scoring chances. The difference was that Bracknell clinically took their chances whereas Thame squandered theirs and defended poorly.

Thame dominated the early stages and were unlucky when Dave Tregurtha met a free kick with a good header, which flashed past the post. Against the run of play Bracknell got their first goal on 10 minutes when Scott Taylor met a cross with a good header. The injured Thame goalkeeper, Paul Searl, gifted the second goal in the 28th minute when he scuffed a goal kick to a Bracknell player who passed to John Dyer. As Searl came out to meet the danger, Dyer calmly shot through his legs. Two minutes later it was 3-0 when Taylor got his second with a fierce shot from eight yards.

Shortly after the restart, Rob Hopkins did well to block a goalbound shot with the Thame defence beaten. Dyer got his second on 48 minutes when he again found the back of the net with a shot that passed through the legs of the advancing Thame goalkeeper. Bracknell?s fifth was scored in the 56th minute by Jon Palmer, who received the ball with his back to goal, quickly turned to buried it in the corner of the Thame goal. In the 80th minute another poor goal kick allowed Palmer to finish the scoring.

It is a tribute to the young Thame side that their heads did not drop and they continued to fight for every ball until the final whistle.
Final score: Bracknel 6 Thame United 0

Thame United: Searl, Way, Hopkins, Eason (capt.) (Hocking), Tregurtha Connelly, Fisher, A Rhodes (Groves), Moore, Raja, Boland (N. Rhodes).

Thame United do not have a game next weekend. Their next fixture is the semi final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup which will be played at Court Farm Place (Oxford City?s Ground) on Wednesday 29th March (7.30pm). Their opponents are Southern Premier League team Banbury United.

Ex-Lord Williams’s student, Simon Burnett, was just pipped at the post in the 200m Freestyle swimming event at Melbourne this morning.
Simon was beaten into silver medal position by only 9/100ths of a second, by his team mate, Ross Davenport.
The 21-year-old from Derby was in fourth place at halfway but moved up into second at the final turn. He then stormed down the final 50m to claim the gold in a time of 1:47.29 secs.

AN ex-Chinnor Rugby Club player was part of the team that beat the Cook Islands this morning in the Commonwealth Games.
David Seymour, who is now a team player at Saracens, has played for the England 21s and this is his second trip with the England 7s.
He appeared on TV this morning at 2am, when the match was shown, England beating the Cook Islands 35 to 5.
David worked his way up at Chinnor from an early age. His dad, Ian, too was a very well respected player and Brothers Adam and Pip also play.

The picture shows David playing for Chinnor against Clevedon.