23/04/13…..Colts edged out by Colchester in LV National Plate Final

SO near yet so far. It was heartbreak for Chinnor Colts on Sunday, but heads were held high after a committed and skilful performance in the LV National Plate final on Sunday.

No one ever wants to lose, and defeats in finals are always bitterly disappointing. But if you can walk off the pitch having given 200%, to the hearty applause of the opposition and the admiration and thanks of the organisers for playing a full part in a wonderful game of rugby, if you can accept your runners up medal with good grace and sportsmanship and if you can make everyone involved with you as a team ? fellow players, coaches, parents, the Club ? extremely proud of you then defeat is just that little bit easier to take. And so it was Chinnor Colts on Sunday.

In truth this game could have gone either way. We edged it in terms of possession and largely dominated territorially, but our opponents were more clinical than us and ran in six tries to our four, three of them scored by their outstanding Fijian left wing. His strength with the ball in hand was just too much to handle and it’s hard to begrudge him his winners medal. Some of our lads said it was like trying to tackle someone covered in Vaseline!

For the second week running I am able to report that we started strongly. An early penalty flew narrowly wide but Dan R gathered the ball straight from the resultant twenty-two drop out and went on a mazy run before touching down in the corner on the opposite side of the pitch. George bagged this kick, a much harder one than the earlier penalty, to move us into an early 7-0 lead.

We continued to have the lion’s share of possession and territory, and it was a while before Colchester got into our twenty-two, but when they did so it was to devastating effect, and a taste of what was to come when they crashed through for their first try. George restored our five point advantage on the scoreboard when he slotted the penalty following offside at the ruck but Colchester then went ahead for the first time when their fullback broke clear on half-way and scored under the posts to give a simple conversion chance. Another try before the break gave Colchester a 10?19 half-time lead, but you could sense from the lads’ attitude that they knew they were not out of this and that if they could keep playing as they had been and maintain belief in themselves then they could win this one.

We came out for the second half firing on all cylinders and enjoyed a 15 minute purple patch, scoring 13 points without reply, that had Colchester reeling. First Ieuan got over for a score in the corner after great work by the forwards at the breakdown, then George slotted three more after we forced another penalty as our forwards bullied the Colchester defence, and then Dan got his second in the corner to move us into a 23-19 lead. But Colchester then struck back with three tries, two from their impressive numbert 11 who constantly cut in off his wing to create havoc in our defence, to move them into an unassailable lead. But we kept going right to the end.

Even after the referee had called last play on our line-out we pushed hard to close the gap on the scoreboard, and after securing possession from the line-out, as we did pretty well all afternoon, the ball eventually found its way to Guy, via a simple pass from Dad R, to touch down in the corner. It would have been nice if George had bagged the conversion to reduce the margin of defeat to four points, but it sailed narrowly past the posts from out wide on the right.

So many positives to take from this game. The attitude and commitment were spot on, and our line-out play and scrummaging faultless. Hats off to Rory, Cam L and Dan HR in the front row for a really tenacious performance. Our counter-rucking was impressive and we were solid at the breakdown. Even our restarts, an area we haven’t been so strong in at times this season, worked well, with George hanging the ball high on the wind to allow the forwards to put real pressure on the receiver.

Finally, congratulations to Colchester, and thanks for a great game. Either team would have been worthy winners but they pipped us and we have no complaints about that. The match was played in a great spirit and all of the lads were a credit to their respective clubs. Thanks also to Hitchin RFC for putting on a great occasion ? it must have been one of the best prepared pitches we have ever played on.

SOURCE: Contributed By Mark Carter