| helenkay |
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| Joined: 07 Oct 2006 |
| Posts: 20 |
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Bitter; glacial; piercing; hyperborean – none of these words can quite do justice to just how bl**dy cold it was at Tring this morning.
B team
Despite this, the B squad played a very close first half in their first match, with neither side dominating despite some strong play from the forwards and great darting runs by Callum Wright and George Burke. Callum took advantage of solid team play from backs Harry Stansfield, George Kent and Bryn Davies to score the first try. The second half saw more good driving play by Charlie Morris, Ollie Bevan, Jack Gibbins and Sam Hook. Sloppy tackling gave Tring the chance to equalise, but this seemed to spur Chinnor on for the win and a surging drive resulted in a well deserved try for Jack and a final score of 10 – 5.
In their second match, Tring took advantage of the cold and slipped a try past Chinnor in the last seconds of the first half despite the best efforts of Jake O’Neill, Tomas White and Adam Pipkin. Chinnor came back with determination in the second half with crunching tackles from Callum and Cameron Matthews and some nifty footwork from Ollie Gordon, Adam Caldwell and Andrew Kay. Charlie wowed the spectators by scattering the opposition to give Chinnor its first try, then did it again for the second time in as many minutes. Harry saw that Tring were running scared, and his try brought the final score to a solid 15 – 5 win.
George B showed us some lovely runs in the final match, the last of which was followed by strong driving from Tomas White and Charlie and resulted in Jack touching it down for the first try. After a superb catch from the opening kick off of the second half, George B ran the length of the pitch to give Chinnor a second. With strong support from Conor Champion, Joseph Lynch and James Bull, Jack took the ball over for the third. A panicked final-minute try from Tring couldn’t stop Chinnor from claiming a well-deserved victory: 15 – 5.
A team
The first match was a close-fought thing, with the forwards dominating in the scrum and ruck. Matthew Smith led the pack with his usual conviction and bone-crunching tackles, Greg showed intelligence and aggression, and Theo Keeping, Iestyn James and Ben Chapman provided great strength in support. The backs were little used, in part due a couple of poor passes from behind the scrum, but Matthew Donnelly and Sam Edwards pulled off some great runs and the defensive efforts of Thomas Strathdee and Charlie Proctor kept Tring’s visits to Chinnor’s half to a minimum and the final score to a 0 – 0 draw.
Spectators were treated to another strong pack performance in the second match. Iestyn scored the first try after a great example of how to roll out of tackles, and Matthew’s thundering run gave Greg the opportunity for the second. Finn Tapping pulled off the tackle of the season, and Harry Lowe and Liam Evans showed some nimble footwork. Tring couldn’t respond, and the final score was 10 – 0.
A mixed A & B team gave us some lovely moves in the final match. Adam Pipkin’s golden boot found touch after a kick which soared the length of the pitch, and Thomas Bellars was uncompromising with his grinding tackles. Adam C and Iestyn grounded a try each, but Tring caught the team off guard and the final score ended 15 – 10.
Thanks go to all the match reporters, and to the parents and coaches who turned up on such a bone-chilling morning. I do hope you’ve thawed out. |
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