Chinnor gives London Irish Wild Geese a roasting

CHINNOR RFC’s motto of the day was clearly “defence wins matches” as they squeezed the life out of London Irish Wild Geese to record an away victory of 27-16, on Saturday (30/11).

Chinnor Captain, Liam Gilbert

From the kick-off, Wild Geese attacked vigorously and were rewarded with two quick penalty goals from Oscar Thomas to go 6-0 ahead on the sixth minute. With almost their first use of ball in the opposition half, Chinnor, through Frank Jones, exploited some pace out on the right. Quick hands from Liam Gilbert put Marston 15m from the line with three defenders to beat. A drop of the hips and some hard running saw Marston dot down for Chinnor’s opening try. Millett’s conversion put the visitors ahead 7-6 ahead with nine minutes on the clock.

Three minutes later, Thomas for the Wild Geese slotted his third penalty goal to put the home side 9-7 ahead. Chinnor’s Daniel Barnes was forced to leave the field after a lengthy delay suffering the effects of receiving his second, late armless tackle. Keohane, for the Wild Geese, kept his backs moving across the park in an effort to find a hole in the Chinnor defence. With the match being played almost exclusively in the Chinnor half for long periods, the Oxfordshire boys managed another breakout and were rewarded with a penalty which Millett dispatched to put Chinnor ahead 10-9 on 22 minutes. Rapid handling from Chinnor, on another breakout from one side of the field to the other, saw Harrison take the ball at top pace from behind his back, control it and touch down in the corner to put Chinnor 15-10 ahead on the 27th minute. Millett added the extras for a 17-9 lead.

After a further 10 minutes defending on their 22, Chinnor again broke out and, with fluidity and high skill, worked the blindside to allow Fielding to ghost through for a try under the posts. Millett converted to put the visitors 24-9, a score they defended until the half-time whistle.

The second half started with a Wild Geese attack in the Chinnor corner. After about 10 minutes of scrums and lineouts, Chinnor managed to clear their lines. It did not last long as Wild Geese took play back again to the same corner. With the Irish pack starting to gain ascendancy in the scrum, it only seemed a matter of time before a pushover try was awarded to the home side. Chinnor, however, repulsed everything thrown at them and managed once again to clear their lines. 19 minutes of play was concentrated five metres from the Chinnor line and Wild Geese’s only reward was one lineout, which they lost. It could not have been any more frustrating for the home side.

Chinnor then had the cheek to break out from their 22m citadel to gain three points, courtesy of a penalty goal from Millett on the 65th minute. Wild Geese came right back and again and laid siege to the Chinnor line. With play now well into overtime, Keohane eventually broke the Chinnor line to score under the posts. Converting his own try with a quickly taken drop conversion, Keohane closed the deficit to 27-16. Chinnor defended the last few seconds and slumped to their knees when the final whistle sounded, exhausted from their extraordinary defensive effort.

London Irish Wild Geese did not play like a team perilously close to relegation. They attacked freely and moved the ball well but were unlucky to come up against a side who knew how to defend. The Geese had a number of opportunities out wide but the Chinnor scramble defence was always up to the task.

In the first half, Chinnor defended comfortably and attacked with skill and pace to score their 3 tries – playing some of their best rugby of the season. Their defensive resoluteness and physical strength in the second half was a thing of wonder, given the relentless pressure from the home side.

Nick Harrison had a storming game in the first half and the whole team, impressively led by Liam Gilbert, was immense in the second half.  However, new boy Jamie Townsend gave a man of the match performance – tackling fiercely, throwing accurately and, most of all, carrying the ball with power and purpose.

Chinnor: George Blewitt, Joe Marston, Matthew Goode, Dan Barnes, Leo Fielding, Will Millett, Frank Jones, Nathaniel Titchard-Jones, Jamie Townsend, Joe Winpenny, Tom Mowbray, Andrew Tibbats, Adam Hastings, Nick Harrison, Liam Gilbert (c)
Replacements: Tom Whelan, Ian Stock, Andrew Smith, Sam Angell, Ricky Hopwood

SOURCE: Contributed