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  • Maid’s Indiscipline Aids Colts’ Success

    ON a bitterly cold winter?s afternoon at Tadley Rugby Club, the two best teams from Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, and Oxfordshire came head to head in the culmination of a season long league and Chinnor Colts took on the power of Maidenhead in a match where the ?maids? were generally deemed to be favourites.

    The match started with both sides testing out their opposite numbers and with a strong Maidenhead pack, the bedrock of their success, meeting the tandem power of Ian Stock and Ed Devine with the excellent hooking and input to the line-out of Jason Lang.

    Early driving runs from the Chinnor backs saw them stifled, and after 10 minutes Maidenhead drove down the pitch and their tight head prop forced over at the base of the posts and a simple conversion moved the score to 0 ?7.

    Josh Kirby at the base of the maul taking a heavy pounding, James Hewitt and Harry Hillier getting wrapped up, and Maidenhead took the upper hand. Fastball out of the ruck, quick passes down their line created an overlap and their second try. An excellent kick made the score 0?14.

    Throughout the match Maidenhead were hampered by their illegal play but good, independent refereeing picked up and penalised this indiscipline. A penalty for hands in the ruck gave Hewitt and Chinnor their first points and offside shortly afterwards, a further three points. In end-to-end play both teams were awarded penalties with each failing to score in the wind.

    By half time the packs were playing level and the Chinnor backs were continually making crunching tackles but Maidenhead were justifiably 6 ? 14 ahead.

    The second half started with a bang and a clean fast ball travelling down the line, drawing and neutralizing opposite numbers. But, with Tom Grellier coming into the line from full back and delivering the final ball, James Ward went over the line. He sensibly tried to improve the kicking position but was caught, and did well to ground the ball. Kicking had been difficult for both sides throughout the game with gusts of wind across the pitch and the conversion was missed for a score of 11 ? 14.

    Rob French, on for the second half (having landed from Oz on Friday), flew in the lineout; Dan John covered every blade of grass and Peter Elson also on, started to drive out of the scrum.

    Then Harry Hillier set off on a darting run getting closer and closer. He stepped back off his right foot to open the angle and his chasing defensive tackler rolled across his back and between him and the corner flag as he grounded the ball. The referee and linesman, who were within feet of the play called the try good and the score moved to 16-14. The winds again took the ball from the conversion, but for the first time Chinnor were ahead by 2 points.

    Maidenhead came back with the power of a wounded animal, and heroic tackles were required. Hillier standing up to the rampaging number eight and whilst being flattened he never let go and slowed him for the cover to arrive, Matt Edmunds taking an advancing forward to the ground in a black belt beauty. However they kept coming and eventually drove over to score but a poor kick made the score 16 ? 21 with just 6 minutes remaining.

    Back came Chinnor driving and forcing yet more illegal Maidenhead play and Hewitt took the brave decision to take the three points. This left Chinnor just 2 points behind and 4 minutes to play. Almost from the restart the ball came back to Hewitt from loose play and a strong kick was called for to gain position, but no; as the ball set off from the half line it became clear that he had gone for the drop. Not high and handsom but low and avoiding the wind, and with the ball and spectators running out of breath, it crept over the posts like a car running out of petrol. But it made it and Chinnor won 22 ? 21.

    A spectacular recovery by an excellent squad and superb use of substitutions by coach Richard John.
    Brilliantly support by friends, families, club players from other teams and club members. Your support made a difference!

    Squad:

    Ian Stock; Jason Lang; Ed Devine (Rupert Enticknap 55); Dan Cuadrado (Rob French 35); Dan John; Josh Kirby (Peter Elson); Max Williams(Johnny Nicholls); Pip Seymour; Guy Hackshaw; Harry Hillier; James Hewitt (Capt); Dan Issac(Matt Edmans 60); Jamie Hiscock; James Ward; Tom Grellier

    Ben Bishop
    James Messenger
    Russell Johnson
    Morgan Thompson
    Adam White

    Posted by Nick Stock

  • Memorial Football Match To Save Lives

    THE third, annual football match, in memory of a young Thame father who died of a heart attack, will take place at Thame United’s ground on Good Friday.
    The Richard Wheeler Memorial Trust was set up two years ago to honour the life of 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 and to date, it has successfully donated

  • Homeware and Hardware Chain Coming To Thame

    A LARGE Chain of Kitchen, Home, DIY and Gardenware stores is to move in to the shop recently occupied by Cooks Chemist in the High Street, which recently closed.
    The mult-million pound concern, Robert Dyas sells over the internet, as well as having branches in towns like Henley, High Wycomber and more recently, Didcot’s new Orchard Centre.
    The company expects to open its Thame doors within a month.

  • Thame Butcher’s Plan Changes Fail To Impress Council

    DESPITE submitting amendments, Newitts, the butchers’retrospective plans for additional plant and equipment at the rear of their premises in the High Street have been rejected by Thame Town Council.
    Newitt’s have been the subject of much criticism from both neighbours, the council and the Thame Conservation Area Advisory Committee, because of noise levels, concerns over access and what the town council called “Creeping industrialisation within a Conservation Area.”
    The company itself has told the town council that its expansion and diversification plans are vital for its continuing survival.
    South Oxford District Council’s Planning Committee will make the final decision as to the future of Newitt’s expansion plans, and expect to decide by March 31.

  • Montesson Scholars’s To Visit Lord Bill’s

    TEACHERS and sixth formers from a Secondary school near Thame’s twin town, Montesson, in France, will be visiting Thame at the end of March.
    The French visitors, from Pierres Vivant school will be staying with host families in Thame, between Wednesday, March 30 and April 3.
    A group of Thame students have already been to Montesson, earlier this year.

  • Ex Lord Bill’s Composer

    FAMOUS music television presenter and composer of Tv theme tunes, Howard Goodall, will be dropping in on the County Music Service’s Youth Regional Festival, on March 19.
    Howard is an ex-pupil of Lord Williams’s School, Thame, where he learnt with the County Music Service and went on to compose, among other things, the Blackadder theme and that of The Vicar of Dibley.
    Howard will be dropping in during the afternoon, which will be part of a month-long festival of events starting on Saturday, March 5, to celebrate the official opening of its new premises at Bayards Hill primary school in Barton.
    For more information about the full programme of events Oxfordshire County Council’s web site.

  • Theft From Thame Cattle Market

    THAME Police are appealing for witnesses after an audacious theft from Thame Cattle Market last Thursday, February 24.
    Offenders drove into the yard sometime between 1pm-1.30pm and stole three industrial pressure washers.
    Two blue Leopard, single-phase pressure washers, each worth

  • A Red Book From A Well Read Volunteer

    IT’S Red Nose Day on Friday, March 11, and the Oxfam Book Shop in Thame, has gone all red!
    To get your official Red Nose and a read book from a red volunteer, visit the shop in Cornmarket, Thame, and help Comic Relief and Oxfam find lasting solutions to poverty and suffering in Africa and the UK.

  • Website For Thame Tangalle Project

    THAME For Tangalle, which was set up for raise money to help rebuilt a hospital in the area devasted by the Boxing Day tsunami, now has a website.
    www.thamefortangalle.nildram.co.uk
    gives lots of up to date information about the project both here and in Tangalle. There are photos of the current state of the hospital and fund raising efforts to date. Anyone who donates to the project can have a link from the website if they wish.
    Nina Oakman,from Thame, who set up the appeal after her son and daughter-in-law were taken in by a local family in Tangalle when they escaped the tsunami, told ThameNews: “We are going to contact the major businesses in Thame, personally, with a letter detailing what we are trying to achieve and people are beginning to recognise the name of the project which is great.
    “Any help that anyone can give us would be greatly appreciated.”

  • Money Approved For Thame

    THE money for the installation and maintenance of CCTV for Thame town centre, has been approved by South Oxfordshire District Council.
    The cameras should be up and running in time for Christmas.
    The District Council’s Capital Budget plans also include money for spy-cameras to help catch illegal fly-tippers.