04/04/11…..Chinnor swamp plucky Grove to go into final

OXFORDSHIRE Senior Cup Semi Final – Saturday, April 2; GROVE 0 Vs CHINNOR 73. MATCH REPORT (Contributed)

IN a somewhat one-sided match, Chinnor overcame plucky Grove 73-0 to ease their way into the final of the Oxfordshire Cup.

Chinnor, with respect to their hosts who play some two divisions below, selected a full strength squad. The first of Chinnor’s 13 tries came when Sam Angell stole the ball at a ruck to allow Mark Chase to weave his way to the line and slip Mowbray in for the touchdown. Chase was the next to score for Chinnor after receiving a wide miss pass after good approach work from the forwards. Chinnor continued scrum pressure on the home side and Prescott, in the speed of a blink, tapped a penalty from a scrum offence and dotted down in the corner for Chinnor’s third try.

Grove competed admirably but the tightly organised Chinnor defence suffocated any chance of a Grove attack starting. James Serrano was next on the score sheet for Chinnor when a Grove kick was fielded and quickly worked to Serrano who bashed over for try number four. A Grove indiscretion at a ruck resulted in Chinnor fly half Cathcart kicking for touch. From the resultant lineout, Chinnor patiently drove over for a try with Hastings touching down. Shortly afterwards, from another lineout, Chinnor worked the ball quickly across the field to left wing Williams who trotted over in the corner for try number six. From the restart, Chinnor worked the ball into the Grove 22 and set up a rolling maul which allowed Hastings to bag his second try of the day. This resulted in Cathcart’s first conversion of the afternoon to bring the score to 37-0 in favour of the visitors.

Grove attempted to pierce the Chinnor defensive line with a grubber kick. Chinnor scrum-half Prescott, sweeping behind the line, smoothly collected the ball and scooted off down the tramlines for his second try of the day, Cathcart again converting. At 44-0, the whistle blew for half time.

Chinnor used the half-time break to make replacements. Harry Jackman, Joe Winpenny and Nick Harrison made way for Ian Stock in the front row, Ed Vickers and Alex Fan in the back row.

Fan was soon in the action when, seizing a dropped ball, sprinted 40m to the Grove touchline for a try. Cathcart converted to bring the score to 51-0 to the visitors from Thame. Another patiently executed rolling maul from the visitors saw Stock touchdown for a try, again converted by Cathcart to bring the score to 58-0. More pressure from the forwards allowed Chase to dance his way to the Grove line for try number 11. The best of Chinnor?s tries of the day came next as a complicated inter-passing run down the blindside involving six different players allowed Prescott his hat-trick try. Williams completed the scoring by touching down for Chinnor’s final try of the day, making the final score 73-0 to Chinnor.

Scorers:

Chinnor: Prescott 3T; Chase 2T; Hastings 2T; Williams 2T; Mowbray T; Serrano T; Fan T; Stock T; Cathcart 4C

Chinnor team: Chase, Serrano (Green 25), Morgan, Angell, Williams, Cathcart (Goode 70), Prescott, Winpenny (Stock 40), Cawston, Pickett, Jackman (Vickers 40), Smith, Hastings, Harrison (Fan 40), Mowbray

Replacements: Stock, Fan, Vickers, Goode, Green