Category: Sports News

ARGUABLY Chinnor’s best performance this season. They
used their attacking options well and their defence was well organised and rock solid. Basingstoke showed they were no pushover as their third place in the league would indicate. They are a well drilled and pacy outfit as their prolific points scored record indicates. This meant that Chinnor needed to
be fully focused and on their mettle to get the result they needed to keep momentum in their title chase.
Chinnor’s Tongan duo, Sam Soane and Rodney Mahe were side-lined with injury which necessitated Rewi Tolich moving into the centre and Jamie Hiscock going onto the wing. Ed Rixon came in at open-side.
Chinnor were on the score sheet two minutes into the
game when, after consistently going down the blind-side, they created an opportunity for Rewi Tolich to go over almost unnapposed to score under the posts. Matt Buckley added the conversion. Basingstoke responded immediately when, afer a sustained bout of pressure, they were awarded a penalty for a
Chinnor offside with Simon Humberstone making no mistake with the ensuing kick. Chinnor increased their lead some five minutes later when the alert
Morgan Thompson exploited a gap to once again go over near the posts.
With Buckley again adding the conversion, Chinnor had made the most positive of starts. A second Tolich try at the 30th minute mark, with Buckley adding
the conversion, gave Chinnor an interval advantage of 21pts to 3.
With the referee playing the advantage law to good
effect, the second half flowed from one end to the other. Strong cover tackling by both sides kept the scoreline static. Eventually an error by
Humberstone, in the 73rd minute allowed Hiscock to field a wayward clearance to set up yet another try for the supporting Tolich with Buckley converting. A try by Carl Saunders for Basingstoke, in the 3rd minute of extra time was the final act of the game. This was an excellent game of rugby football from two sides who were prepared to play positively from the word go.
Matt Buckley was outstanding for the home side in
both attacking and defending modes. Ed Rixon was again all over the park and with Hennessy and Maxwell formed an effective back-row unit. A word for
skipper Craig Burrows whose jumping and securing of the ball from the line-out was imperious.

Chinnor 28pts Basingstoke 8 pts
Photo: Chinnor Fly Half & Man Of The Match Matt Buckly

THE final match of the season for the Thame players was the return game against local rivals, Mill Lane of Chinnor.
Although Thame had won the home match, the Chinnor players had the distinct advantage of their home court. With no promotion or relegation issues, this was a straight forward match.
For the first time this season, the team was without Ben Cooper. As a result, Lance Adlam and Andy Scarlett started off the match. The low ceiling meant that the Thame pair were unable to use the high clear when in trouble. At the same time the Chinnor pair of Stewart Chapman and Roger Payne played a driving game that Adlam and Scarlett struggled to hold and they lost the first game.
Although they were beginning to come to terms with conditions, the extra points they won were still not enough for the Thame pair to win. However, they were able to pass on tips to the youngsters, Gareth Allingham and Chris Daniels. Those tips, together with better movement, saw the Thame pair win the first game against Steve Gilmour and Martin Ray.
The second game saw no change and the youngsters dominated the Mill Lane pair and won the second game and thus the rubber.

The next rubber saw Adlam, with a redesigned pair of shorts, paired with Daniels for Thame, whilst Chapman paired up with Gilmour for Chinnor. Mill Lane started off well and kept forcing Adlam to the back and negate Daniels’ power. Having lost the first game, a tactical change saw Adlam trying to get to the front earlier and bring Daniels into play. The change worked and Thame won the next game to level the rubber.
Although Mill Lane tried to compensate for the change in tactics, they were unable to deny Thame the win in the final game. Scarlett then joined forces with Allingham to play Payne and Ray. Scarlett changed his racquet to reduce the power off the strings and was immediately rewarded with success. With Scarlett’s serving accuracy, the returns were being set up for Allingham to kill off and give Thame an easy win. The domination continued in the second game to give Thame the rubber and an unbeatable lead in the match.

Scarlett stayed on court to play with Adlam against Gilmour and Ray. He continued playing well and all round court. Adlam also showed improvement to give Thame the first game. In the second game, the Thame pair only had three turns at serving as they out- played Mill Lane without conceding a point.
The last rubber saw Daniels playing with Allingham against Chapman and Payne. The Thame pair started of with confidence but began to make too many mistakes and this cost them the game. The Mill Lane pair stood fast when Daniels tried to smash his way to a win but were able to stump the tactic and went on to win the rubber.
The match ended as it had at Thame with a 4 ? 2 win to Thame. The season has ended for this side with Thame a two wins, two draws and two losses record, but having allowed some players to gain valuable experience.

By Andy Scarlett

A 23 year-old ex-Lord Williams’s student from Tetsworth, near Thame, is tipped to win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne this week.
Simon Burnett, currently based at the University of Arizona in Tucson, was described as ‘Britain’s biggest fish’ in the National Sunday papers, where the full story of his climb from early morning training in High Wycombe to making his mark at the Commonwealth Games Trials in Sheffield last August, was told.
At Sheffield, Simon beat the Champion, Mark Foster, with a time that apparently would have won him a medal at last year’s World Championships.
Read the full Sunday Times feature
.

THAME United were outplayed in their League match on Saturday by mid?table Bromsgrove Rovers.
This was the 13th time this season that the young, and relatively inexperienced, United team have conceded four or more goals. It was a game, which Bromsgrove controlled, and in which, apart from a 20-minute spell, Thame failed to threaten.
The first goal came after 14 minutes, when Neil Davis met a left wing cross and fired home at the near post. Thame then had their good spell and Tom Goffe was unlucky to hit the woodwork and to see another goal-bound effort saved by keeper Lee Evans. Just before half time Paul Moore ran onto a defence splitting through ball, and although Paul Searl parried his shot, Moore picked up the rebound and finished from close range.
Two minutes after the restart Rovers all but killed the game when Davis got his second from 18 yards. The on-form Davis completed his hat-trick with a near-post header five minutes before the final whistle blew.

Thame United: Searl, Bradley (Hopkins), Hocking, Tregurtha, Eason, Raja, A. Rhodes (Way), N. Rhodes (Morgan), Goffe, Moore, Groves.

The Semi Final of the Oxfordshire Senior Cup will now be played on Wednesday, March 29th (7.30) at Oxford City’s ground, Court Farm Place.

This game is between Thame United and the winners of the North Leigh and Banbury United tie (which is scheduled for next Tuesday 14th)

Also, last Tuesday’s postponed fixture against Paulton Rovers has been rescheduled for tomorrow 13th.

CHINNOR 1ST XV’s are due to play what has been billed as ‘The most important match in its history.’
The Powergen South West Division match against Weston-Super-Mare, will be played on Saturday, March 18, kick off 3pm.
Chinnor are currently leading SW Division One with Weston in 2nd place. This is the first of a doubler-header on consecutive weekends which will decide the championship and who will be promoted to National League Division Three South.
For more details check Chinnor RFC’s web site:
Link

SATURDAY saw another great win for Chinnor RFC 2nds in their league match against old rivals, Aylesbury by 81 points to 5.
Well led as usual by Captain Tom Wood, this was a side with eight under 21-year olds, and Nick Grimsdell and Will Batting making the team for the first time.
Chinnor forwards took control of the scrums, mauls and loose play from the first kick and linked up well with the back line, which too were in top form. The inter passing between forwards and backs was outstanding as was the ball retention by the whole team. Aylesbury were given a master class in rugby by a ?village team?.
Chinnor 2nds came out of the blocks on fire with tries by Adam White, Ben Hewitt and Richard Williams all converted by Williams and Chinnor 2nds led by 21 points to Nil in the first six minutes. Once Aylesbury came to terms with the onslaught, the game then settled down and they gave as good as they got. Chinnor had to do some very good defensive work which showed what they whole team were capable of.
It wasn?t until the 30th minute before Chinnor hit a another purple patch with tries by Alan Cawston, Ben Hewitt?s second after being set on his way with a break by Adam White from his own half, and Jon Brooks after great forward play. All converted by Williams in a seven-minute period. Chinnor ended the first half 42 points to Nil.
Aylesbury scored by an interception after five minutes of the second half and were unable to convert.
Chinnor then had another run of tries; this time seven tries at 5-minute intervals. Ben Hewitt?s third, Captain Tom Wood, new boy, Nick Grimsdell, Alan Cawston?s second, Ben Hackshaw, Ed Devine, followed by another by Nick Grimsdell after a fantastic solo run from his own half.
Williams converted two of the tries and Chinnor finished the game 81 points to 5.
The second half three youngsters Will Batting, Brendan Davis and Dan John substituted the old heads of Tom Wood, Jon Brooks and Paul Fincken.
This bodes well for Chinnor?s future with so much talented young blood being given a run in the seconds and having them more than hold their own, and learning their craft from some very good old heads.

Tries:13 – Ben Hewitt 3; Alan Cawston 2; Nick Grimsdell 2; Tom Wood 1; Richard Williams 1; Ed Devine 1; Adam White; Ben Hackshaw;
Jon Brooks 1 each.
Conversions: 8 – all by Richard Williams

Walter McGuicken

WITH the wind at their backs after losing the toss,
Chinnor utilised this advantage with immediate effect, when straight from the line-out they drove the Harlequins some 20 metres for Rodney Mahe to
score.
With Ed Rixon on for Paul Hennessy, Chinnor were finding it difficult to increase their lead. With James Hewitt having to leave the field withhamstring problems, Jamie Hiscock came on with Rewi Tolich taking up the full-back berth. It took until the 30th minute of the game for Darren Oxley to finish off a fine threequarter move and score.
Matt Buckley taking over the kicking duties from Hewitt added the conversion. Harlequins then
reduced the lead when Chinnor were caught off-side and Henley kicked the penalty.
A delightful break by Morgan Thompson then saw the supporting Ed Rixon, who had an outstanding game, scoop the ball off his toes to score. This gave
Chinnor a 14pt cushion playing into the wind in the second half.
Chinnor were again first on the score sheet in the
second period when following a sweeping move Rewi Tolich had the easiest of touch downs. With Buckley slotting the conversion, Chinnor was in Control but then failed to clear from the Quins kick-off resulting in a break down the middle of the park by Ben Cottenden who found Sam Stop up in support to score wide out. A fine touchline conversion from Henley saw Quins back in the hunt.
Another try from JP. Emmelman sealed the game for the
visitors.
The five try to one scoreline indicates that Chinnor
thoroughly deserved this victory over their close rivals.

Chinnor RFC 2nds 71 Pts v Maidenhead 2nds 10 Pts

LEAD by Captain, Tom Wood, Chinnor 2nds had a great win in their league match against their old rivals, Maidenhead 2nds.
Chinnor forwards took control of the scrums, mauls and loose play from the very first kick and linked up well with the back line, also on top form. The inter- passing between forwards and backs was outstanding as was the ball retention for the whole team.
The first points came in the 7th minute with a try by Ian Stock in tandem with Paul Fincken after some great forward play that was converted by Richard Williams from the touchline. Rich followed this up with 3 breaks through the centre to run in 3 converted tries and a penalty giving him 26 points tally in 18 minutes of play, and Chinnor a lead of 31 points to 0.
It was then the turn of Ben Hewitt to score after some slick passing by the backs again converted by Rich. Paul Fincken finished off the first half with a try that was once again converted by Rich and Chinnor Seconds finished the first half 45 points to Nil.
Paul Fincken started the second half as he finished the first with a try that was converted by Rich and followed 5 minutes later by a break by Simon Matthews who ran half the pitch and off loaded the ball to Danny Burns who scored under the posts. This was followed 3 minutes later after good forward and back line passing for James Dollery to score in the corner. Chinnor then made three substitutions. Temporarily forgetting about the basics, everyone wanted to score and in a 3-minute period Maidenhead scored 2 tries and a conversion giving them 12 points. Chinnor then settled down and the whole team got involved with the ball going from hand to hand. Ali Reekie scored and conversion by Rich Williams. The referee ended the game 5 minutes early with a final points tally of 71points to 12.
Richard Williams was named man of the match for his 3 tries, 1 penalty and 9 conversions, giving him 30 points. Other outstanding players were by Alan Cawston, Paul Fincken, Danny Burns having listed names, the other 14 players had also played very well.
Finally hats off to Maidenhead, they never gave up and fought with spirit.
Walter McGuicken

Thame United 1, Taunton Town 3
This was an entertaining League match on Sunday, which the gutsy Thame side were unlucky to lose.
Taunton took the lead after only two minutes when a good ball found Sam Duggan in space. His shot hit Thame?s Robbie Eason and lobbed over Paul Searl into the Thame net. Thame recovered well and equalised in the 31st minute when a long ball from Eason found Magid Raja who touched it on for Tom Goffe to finish confidently with a strong shot from 12 yards. Ten minutes later Searl pulled out an outstanding save and the teams went in for the half time break with the scores even at 1-1.
United were determined to get the points, and moved Luke Fisher to join Raja and Goffe in attack. Against the run of play however Taunton regained the lead in the 51st minute. A good ball from defender Ben Wiltshire found the talented Aaron Blakemore who scored, from an acute angle, with a well-placed 15-yard shot. The spectators then saw a display of attractive end-to-end football, with both goals seemingly protected by invisible force fields. Searl made more fine saves whilst, at the other end, Thame saw at least two goal-bound efforts cleared off the line.
Thame bombarded the Taunton goal in the final five minutes but it was Taunton who completed the scoring in injury time. Whilst the Thame defence ?slept? Loris Ghiglia played a good ball to substitute Alexis Piper who cut in from the left and fired a close shot that Searl managed to parry, but Piper met the rebound to finish well.

Thame United: Searl, Hopkins (Boland), N. Rhodes, Eason, Hocking, Tregurtha, Fisher, A. Rhodes, Goffe, Raja (Way), Bradley (Bowden).

THAME travel to Bromsgrove Rovers next Saturday, 11th March.

Thame United are holding a race evening at Thame Cricket Club on Saturday 18th March. Tickets are priced at

OXFORDSHIRE residents are being encouraged to keep their 2006 New Year?s Resolutions to get fit and healthy by joining Swimathon 2006, The Nation?s BIG Swim.
The Swimathon will be taking place between March 23-26, locally at all SOLL Leisure’s pools, including Thame. Its aim is to raise