Category: Sports News

THAME United returned from Shrivenham on Tuesday evening, March 29, content with a point after both a difficult playing surface combined with injuries in the first half to the centre back pairing of Martin Brown and Nik Rhodes, and a major re-shuffle meant that Thame were unable to fully adopt their normal playing style.

Although United benefitted from the pronounced slope on the pitch in the first half, Shrivenham went closest to opening the scoring when, after only four minutes, a cut back from the bye-line was met by the Shrivenham striker whose close range effort could only find the side netting. Thame then had a great chance to take the lead five minutes later when man of the match Alex Stewart did well to cross from the left and James Faulkner?s powerful header from close range was well saved by the home keeper. Nik Rhodes was then replaced at the back by Mitchell Meredith after being injured and, shortly afterwards Shrivenham took the lead. A corner from the left was swung over and Roper had a clear header from only six yards and finished well.

The lead, however, lasted only five minutes as United equalised with the move of the match. Some quick interplay down the Thame left resulted in Alex Stewart putting Stuart Barr through. His low driven cross was met eight yards from goal by Faulkner, who swivelled and hit a first time shot beyond the keeper. Shortly afterwards it was the turn of captain Martin Brown to go off with an injury, and the re-shuffle saw Faulkner play the centre back role, with Stuart Braun coming in to midfield and Aaron Rogers joining Alex Stewart up front.

The second half lacked the intensity of the first half with much of the play condensed in the middle of the field. Neither side threatened to score and, whilst Shrivenham had a couple of opportunities that failed to hit the target, Thame created the best openings. Stewart, who was on the end of some physical defending from the Shrivenham back four, was instrumental in most of these, with the best opportunity arriving after 75 minutes when he beat four defenders in a run from the half way line only to see his effort from an acute angle go in to the side netting. It was as close as either side got and with the referee bringing the game to a close after only 89 minutes, Thame were happy to come away with a point and concentrate on a busy schedule of games over the coming weeks.

SCORE: Thame Utd 1, Shrivenham 1

Thame United: Barisic, Newell, Pykett, Rhodes (Meredith), Brown (Braun), Hayes, Connelly, Rogers, Stewart, Faulkner, Barr.

WALLINGFORD 17 Vs Chinnor 28; Sunday, March 27, MATCH REPORT (Contributed by Jonathan Hook)

CHINNOR U14s won their first county cup on Sunday (26/03) after an intense and hard fought match. The final held at Wallingford, was a re-match from last year with both sides playing fast moving rugby on a firm pitch. Wallingford started stronger with plenty of running from their backs, matched by an impressive defensive effort from the Chinnor 15. Eventually the defence was stretched too far and Wallingford ran in an unconverted try. Ten minutes from half time, Chinnor responded with a try built from tight forward work with Iestyn James eventually driving over, 5 ? 7 half time.

The second half was very tight, eventually Wallingford broke the Chinnor defence with a big miss pass finding the winger in enough space to score, 10 ? 7. Chinnor responded swiftly with excellent support play as they continued to drive through their forwards. After several phases the balls was driven over the line by Charlie Krabbe and converted again by Jack Gibbins, 10 ? 14. Wallingford came back and continued to threaten with their dangerous backs, however, Chinnor?s defence was resolute and on a turnover ball from a ruck they started yet another drive towards the try line. Wallingford conceded a penalty, which was swiftly taken by Harry Lowe who put Thomas Strathdee in the corner, again converted by Gibbins, 10 ? 21. Five minutes to go and Wallingford started to move the ball around, again they ran out wide and managed to break the Chinnor line, 17 ? 21 and 3 minutes to play.

From the kick off Chinnor ran straight back passing in contact and with strong support running they forced their way into the Wallingford 22. With quickly recycled ball from a ruck five yards out, Iestyn James was able to dive over for a well deserved second try, which Gibbins once again converted giving him an amazing tally of four from four.

Chinnor U14s squad
Jamie Strachan, Iestyn James, Reggie Hubbocks, Tom Bellars, Jack Gibbins, Kooks, Charlie Krabbe, Matthew Smith, Harry Stansfield, Harry Lowe, Callum Wright, Dan Denton, Thomas Strathdee (Capt), Nathaniel Heather, Tom Horgan, Chris Hopgood, Ben MacIntosh, Devun Williamson, Ben Marsh, Adam Pipkin, Rory Coltart.

NATIONAL 3 SW; Saturday, March 26, Chinnor RFC 52 Vs Exmouth 5; MATCH REPORT (Contributed)

SCOring seven tries, Chinnor emphatically laid to rest their jinx of never having beaten Exmouth in league rugby, running out comfortable winners 52-5.

Chinnor started brightly when, in the first minute, the ball was worked wide to Williams whose sidestep saw him clear to the line for Chinnor’s first try. Cathcart converted the first of a flawless eight kicks from eight for the afternoon. Most of the play for the next 20 minutes was in the Exmouth half and they did well to resist the Chinnor pressure. On the 24th minute, Vickers smashed through the visitor?s defence to touch down for Chinnor’s second try. Cathcart converted to give Chinnor a 14-0 lead. Cathcart then increased the lead with a long-range penalty goal and minutes later Mowbray bagged the first of his two tries for the day. Cathcart?s conversion saw Chinnor go in at half-time 24-0 ahead.

Just two minutes into the second half, Chinnor’s try bonus point was gained courtesy of the strong running Matthew Goode, cutting back across the defence. Chinnor?s try count increased again five minutes later when Mark Chase, called to start the match as Hopwood sustained an injury in the warm up, touched down for Chinnor’s fifth try. Chinnor now led 38-0. Mowbray was next on the scoreboard for his second of the day and neat sidestepping by Goode in the 64th minute completed Chinnor’s try scoring for the afternoon. With the match score at 52-0 in Chinnor’s favour, the home side went down to 13 men with no further replacements available and a yellow card for Cawston ? the first caution in his 13 years in the 1st XV. Exmouth took advantage of their numerical superiority and finally got on the scoreboard with Jack Westlake’s try from a ragged scrum in the Chinnor corner, leaving the final score at 52-5 to Chinnor.

This was a day when all parts of the Chinnor machine functioned accurately and well. The forward pack were dominant at both set piece and in the loose and provided a plentiful supply of ball for the backs who were happy to run. Chase, at emergency full-back, revelled in returning any kicked ball. Vickers was at his goose-stepping best but the man pulling all the strings for Chinnor was James Cathcart who had an outstanding match.

Scorers:

Chinnor: Williams T; Vickers T; Goode 2T; Mowbray 2T; Chase T; Cathcart 7C, PG

Exmouth: Westlake T;

Chinnor team: Chase, Seymour, Goode, Morgan (Chase 48), Williams, Cathcart, Prescott, Winpenny (Stock 52), Cawston, Pickett, Jackman, Smith, Vickers, Hastings (Harrison 52), Mowbray

Replacements: Stock, Harrison

PENN & Tylers Green 0, Thame United 1; 26/-3/11; Supplementary Cup – MATCH REPORT contributed by Bob Dixon.

UnUNITED progressed to the 4th round of the Hellenic League Supplementary Cup, at Penn & Tylers Green, on Saturday, when they won a close game 0-1. Mark West took the chance to rest some of his regulars with only six of last Saturday?s starting line up playing. After the debut, a few weeks ago of young right back Phil Pykett, his identical twin brother Ian made his first team debut at left back, Both had really good games, and with the experienced James Saulsbury and Nik Rhodes making up the back four, Lee Orkney?s goal was rarely threatened.

The first half saw United playing downhill on a bone-dry uneven surface. The home side had their best chance of the match after 5 minutes when a free kick skidded of the top of the Thame crossbar. A few minutes later Saulsbury headed a difficult chance over the Penn crossbar. United had slightly more of the first half play but the game was goalless at half time.

Shortly after the restart, Aaron Rogers hit a well-placed 20-yard shot which brought a good save from the keeper. The goal came in the 56th minute. After good work from Luke Ricketts on the left, the ball found Mitchell Meredith who passed to Stuart Barr, about 10 yards from goal. Barr?s hurried shot hit the crossbar but the ball came back to him and he was able to head home from close range. With about 20 minutes remaining, Luke Fisher was unlucky to see his first time 25-yard volley narrowly miss the target. The home side?s player/manager, and ex Thame player, Matt Miller came on for the final 15 minutes but although Penn looked sharper, they were unable to create any real chances and Thame deservedly won.

Thame United: Orkney, I Pykett, P Pykett, N. Rhodes, Saulsbury, Newell, Barr, Fisher, Meredith, Rogers, Ricketts.

PHOTO: Thame goal scorer, Stuart Barr

THAME swimmers have been doing the town proud recently, competing at the Oxon & North Bucks County Championships. Despite the qualifying times for the 2011 event being made more stringent, Thame attended with a larger squad than last year and had several swimmers make it to the finals for their events, notably Elliot Riley-Brown, Hallam Cozier, Grace Gilmore, George Finch, Amy Fleming and Georgia Cahill.

Jo Hewett, swimming in the 50m & 100m Backstroke for the Bucks Disability Club although also a Thame SC swimmer, took gold and silver respectively. Many of the swimmers were competing at the championships for the first time. Thame SC?s patron and Olympic swimmer, Simon Burnett, who trains in the US but had been competing at the British Gas National Championships in Manchester, dropped in to congratulate the swimmers on their performance.

Simon said: ?The swimmers put in some great performances. This is great achievement for a club that will be two years old in April.? Simon then took on the swimmers in several races ? fortunately winning all of them!

The swimmers thanked Simon for mentioning the club at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi whilst he was being interviewed with the rest of the Men?s 4x100M Freestyle relay team by the BBC?s Sharon Davies.

Thame swimmers will be running a sponsored swim in aid of local charity UCARE on Sunday, March 27, 2011 at Thame Leisure Centre pool. If you would like to support them, please pop up to the pool between 4pm and 8pm and donate some cash!

CONTRIUBUTED

OVER 100 players between the ages of 7-12, plus coaches and referees, represented Thame-based Chinnor RFC last Sunday, March 20, hosted by Banbury RFC.

The main aim of this annual event is for local clubs to come together and enjoy the game. Of course it?s good to receive a medal and bring home the trophies:

Cup Winners: U8Bs, U11Bs

Plate Winners: U8Bs, U10Bs,

Runners Up: U11Bs, U12Bs

All other teams did really well in their competitions.

The Chinnor RFC Minis end of season Fun Day is on May 8th, and End of Season Dinner on May 14th.

GIVEN that for much of last season the race for the Division One East title was between Thame and Wokingham and Emmbrook, it was perhaps not surprising that the rivalry continued in to this first Premier Division clash between the sides.

Whilst Thame ran out 2-1 winners, the score line belies their dominance of a fiery match.

Playing down the slope in the first half, United immediately had their opponents on the back foot and took the lead within the first ten minutes. Striker James Faulkner ran on to a through ball and from a tight angle hit an unstoppable drive low in to the bottom corner of the goal. With Wokingham finding it difficult to get out of their own half, and placing too much reliance on long balls down the centre of the field, Thame pressed for a second and after good wing play from Man of the Match Ben Connelly, Faulkner was presented with two good chances to extend the lead, seeing a shot and a header just miss the target.

As it was, Thame could not extend their lead for the remainder of the first half and were anticipating a difficult second half as their opponents had the advantage of playing down the slope. However, whilst Wokingham began to see more of the ball, the final pass lacked penetration and frustration started to set in, with a number of dangerous tackles going unpunished by the officials. With quarter of an hour gone Thame won a corner that Stuart Barr delivered from the right and on to the head of Mitchell Meredith whose powerful effort was seemingly goal bound until it struck Alex Stewart on the goal line and went over for a goal kick. However, Thame only had to wait another five minutes before extending their lead. Another Barr corner from the right was cleared to the edge of the box where skipper James Saulsbury hit a sweet volley in to the corner of the net.

It was no more than Thame deserved and five minutes later, Faulkner had the ball in the back of the net again as he finished confidently from the edge of the box. Unfortunately for the travelling contingent from Thame, Faulkner was ruled off-side although even the partisan home crowd accepted the decision was somewhat dubious. Things went from bad to worse for Faulkner as shortly afterwards, and having run the Wokingham skipper, Shaun Wanklyn ragged all evening, he was sent from the field of play for a second yellow card ? reacting to a wreckless ?chop? from Wanklyn that the official somehow managed to miss.

Even down to ten men, United were comfortable in defence, and it tells a story when Thame keeper Milan Barisic was not called in to action until the 85th minute, doing well to block a shot from the edge of the six yard box. Wokingham did score a late consolation goal with 30 seconds left when Tom Hopper met a corner from the right but by then Thame had more than done enough to take the three points and move up to ninth in the league.

Thame United: Barisic, Newell, Pykett, Rhodes, Saulsbury, Meredith, Hayes, Connelly, Stewart, Faulkner, Barr.

Jake Collings

TWO Rugby Camps for youngsters are planned for the Easter holidays at Chinnor RFC, based in Thame.

1) Easter Rugby Camp 12th ? 14th April 2011 – This camp is a fun and safe environment aimed for either club players wanting to learn new skills or new players wanting an introduction to rugby. Players need to be aged 5-12 yrs and will be grouped accordingly.

Pack lunch, drinks, warm clothes and change of/wet weather clothes will be required.

Cost: 1 day

SO, here’s the exam question for all those U16s studying for those GCSEs. How to beat Wallingford after being soundly beaten by them last October – how to handle their undoubtedly class pack with numerous academy players – how to get enough points to make it today that the trophy was awarded?

Here’s the answer: Put 7 tries past them on the first team pitch. Take on the Wallingford forwards by disrupting their set plays at every opportunity, and tackle, tackle and then tackle some more.

MATCH REPORT – Chinnor U16 37 Vs Wallingford U16 7; League match; Sunday, March 29.(Contributed)

WITHIN three minutes of the kick-off, a quick tap penalty taken by Dan, swift interchange between Tom Hook and Dom and Guy had scored the first try, the scene had been set.

To mention all the scorers – and they will be named – would fail to credit all the guys who worked to put them through. It would also fail to mention the character shown when the tide started to turn just after half-time with Wallingford having the wind behind them. The response was for Chinnor to counter Wallingford’s first score at 22 – 7with a classic Ollie midfield burst to the line pressing home the domination in the loose.

Your correspondent detected a slight moistening in Rob Hill’s eyes late on in the second half as he was heard to say “I’ve never seen them play so well” – even Alan A was smiling as the final 2 tries were run in.

Maybe it was just (the) wind!

The scorers – Guy Carter, Nic Barker, Dom Bradbrook-Taylor (2), Tom Evans, Ollie Barker and Jason Hankins crossed the line. At half-time we were at 22 – 0, at full time, 37 – 7.

So let’s mention all those that put those guys through – Jack, Cameron and Ingy the bravest front row against guys stones heavier – Ingy would star later on with a solo run so magnificent everyone took a break to admire it! Ieuan and Josh superb in the line-out and so very mobile all over the pitch. Tommy and Dougie tackled, tackled and then did a bit more tackling just to make sure. Guy kept talking and leading from number 8 right to the end.

What did the backs do with that ball? Henry ran brilliant lines allowing Ollie to get space and the finishing by Tom, Dom and Nic was first class. Moving the ball around, kicking for territory and “taking one for the team” was your correspondent’s man of the match George Grose – who might remember some of the game when his head gets better later in the week.

Sad to see injuries on the Wallingford team – our wishes for swift recoveries are passed on to those involved. Nic Barker too, nursing a very painful shoulder from quite early on.

Please don’t forget those on the bench – theirs’ is sometime the hardest hour or so, waiting for the moment to come on and so often frustrated if the opportunity doesn’t come – Jack, Lewis, Matt and Connor – remember the game can’t be played without you. Not forgetting Rory and Rob G – early season casualties who turned up to support from the touchlines.

A big round of applause for the coaching team – Coaches Matthew Cundy, Alan Aitken, Mark Carter, Sam Angell, Alex Wingfield and of course led by Rob Hill.

THAME United 3, Kidlington 1 League match 19/03/11 – MATCH REPORT – Contributed by Bob Dixon

THAME United defeated second placed Kidlington at the ASM Stadium on Saturday in a close and entertaining game. With most first team regulars now recovered from injury, Manager Mark West was able to field a strong team, which grew with confidence as the match progressed. Playing his third game for Thame, James Faulkner had an excellent game, and was chosen as man of the match.

The first half was goalless, although there were chances at both ends. A Kidlington header hit the woodwork after 5 minutes and later Thame keeper Milan Barisic was forced to make a quality save from visiting striker Anaclet Adhiambo. At the other end, The Kidlington keeper did well to save a Luke Rickets shot and to push a close range Faulkner header onto the crossbar.

Thame took the lead six minutes after the restart. Stuart Barr hit an inch perfect free kick on the left to the far post where Martin Brown rose to head home. United?s second came in the 64th minute. Alex Stewart juggled a Barr throw in and knocked it to substitute Mitchell Meredith, unmarked on the edge of the area, who hit a strong shot giving the keeper no chance. The visitors lost a man in the 70th minute when Danny Mason made a late tackle, and was dismissed for his second bookable offence. Despite being a man down, Kidlington pulled a goal back, with 10 minutes remaining, when Adhiambo knocked the ball into the path of Ryan Curtin who slotted the ball pass Barisic from 10-yards. The visitors pressed for an equaliser and Barisic was forced to make another excellent save. As Kidlington pressed, they became vulnerable to Thame a counter attack which duly came in the 90th minute when Faulkner ran at goal before squaring to Substitute Conor Hunt who knocked home from 8 yards.

Overall, it was an encouraging performance from an improving Thame side that can be proud of their win.

Thame United: Barisic, Barr, N Rhodes, Saulsbury, Brown (Newell), Hayes, Connelly, Braun (Meredith), Stewart (Hunt), Faulkner, Ricketts.