Old Patesians vs Chinnor

Old Patesians – 10
Chinnor – 44

Referee- Mr Doug Neagle

A spirited and much improved performance from the Old Patesians failed to halt the promotion challenge of unbeaten Chinnor in National League 3 South West.

The visitors beat the Old Pats 45-25 in the corresponding match at Kingsey Road earlier in the season and the Everest Road outfit knew that they would have to play out of their skins to match the muscular physicality and silky skills of their professional opponents.

Pats injury list is slowly diminishing and they welcomed the return of their athletic No. 8 Nathan Riley whilst Chinnor fielded fly-half James Cathcart who is both the ‘Top kicker’ and ‘Top points’ scorer in the league with 184 points to his credit.

Pats lost the toss and were invited to play down the slope but any advantage to be gained from that was more or less nullified by a gale force, swirling wind slamming down from the North which blew horizontally across the pitch.

There was no doubt that the cyclonic conditions would have a major influence on the game and Chinnor made early use of the elemental forces.

Cathcart hoofed a bomb deep into the Pats half who tried to maul their way out of trouble from their own five metre line. Some confusion arose in the Pats communication and Chinnor second row, Andrew Smith, intercepted a popped pass and flopped over the line for the simplest of tries, hardly deserved. Cathcart converted and then added a penalty goal when the Pats midfield strayed offside.

Pats regrouped and fly half Matt Dean was the clear winner amongst the respective kickers in how to use the wind to keep his forwards on the front foot. He kept his kicks from hand exocet low to establish good field positions.

Winger Dan Burrows benefited from a Dean probe with a dashing break and full back James Butler, in close support, finished the move with a sniping run and a try between the uprights that he converted himself.

Chinnor were rattled by the steely determination of the Pats and their touchline coaches, straying from the technical area, were vociferous in their demands that their talented team should up the tempo and this they did in some style.

For the best part of the remainder of the half, with sustained attrition and controlled possession, they pummelled the Pats line with a series of penalty line-outs, attacking scrums and countless pods of pick and drives.

The Pats defence was exceptional and to a man they suffocated and then extinguished, time and again, the classy moves of the Oxford high flyers. Pats flankers Ben Walsh and Marcus Brown were particularly prominent in holding the line with some huge first up hits and relishing the battle at the breakdown.

When Pats pinched a line-out ball which had wobbled in the wind Chinnor collapsed the drive and Butler punished them with a penalty goal.

The scores were level but Chinnor remained calm and hit back with breathtaking handling and tries for full back Henry Colver and winger Mark Chase. Chinnor led by 20 points to 10 points at the break.

Pats survived early pressure after the interval with their well organised drift defence keeping Chinnor at bay until the visitors No. 8 Liam Gilbert used his bulk and pace to shrug off some reluctant tacklers for a try in the right hand corner.

Pats then took a collective decision that they had nothing to lose and to have one last go to crack open the defensive armour of Chinnor. They tried everything with pick and drives, box kicks, grubbers, pacy wingers coming from deep and hitting the line at an angle but all to no avail.

Chinnor’s defensive machine never yielded an inch and Pats hopes of claiming a famous scalp died in the final ten minutes of the game.

Chinnor had taken the punishment and now dished out a reminder of why they are odds on for promotion to National League Two.

Pats could do little to stop tries from centres Matt Goode and Sam Stoop and a second for Gilbert. Cathcart added two conversions and Pats had been taught a lesson in how to turn possession into points.

Man of the Match: Chinnor No. 8 – Liam Gilbert

By Bob Ellis

Postscript – The abandoned game on 07/01/12 against Redingensians will now be replayed on 25th February. Even though the game had been going for over 60 minutes, the League Committee have stated that abandonment due to injury is not included in the 60 minute rule. Only weather conditions are covered by the rule and, hence, the game must be replayed.