28/03/11….Chinnor RFC lays its jinx to rest

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