Thame United 3-2 Reading City – ( att : 180 ) – 2026/27 FA Cup

September 5, 2026

Thame’s reward for their resounding 7-1 triumph over Brislington was a home draw in the FA Cup First Qualifying round against Reading. However, it was unfortunately against step 5 Reading City FC rather than the League One side !

With subsequent wins in the FA Trophy at step 4 Westbury United and the Bank Holiday victory at Marlow, Thame had now won three matches on the trot.

Reading City

Reading City were currently members of the step 5 Combined Counties Premier Division North, and were founded in 2001 following a merger between two Reading Senior League sides Highmoor and Ibis, and took the name Highmoor-Ibis.

Winning the 2010/11 Reading Senior League led to promotion to the step 6 Hellenic League Division One East and in their first season the club were promoted to step 5 after finishing as runners-up.

Highmoor Ibis were runners-up in the Hellenic League Premier Division in 2014-15 and the club changed their name to Reading City in 2018. For 2020/21 the club were level transferred to the Combined Counties Premier Division North, since when they had finished 9^th, 3^rd, 4^th, 13^th and 6^th.

Their 4^th place in 2023/24 saw Reading City qualify for the promotion play-offs where they were eliminated after a 2-5 loss at Bedfont Sports.

Last season Reading City had their best ever run in the FA Vase, reaching the 4^th Round before losing 1-2 at home to Lymore Gardens, having eliminated Snodland Town ( 3-1 ), Erith & Belvedere ( 1- 0 ), Baffins Milton Rovers ( 4-0 ) and Mendip Broadwalk on penalties after 1-1 draw.

Highmoor-Ibis initially played at Scours Lane, but as the ground did not meet the requirements for step 6 due to a lack of floodlights and a covered stand, the club were forced to move to the Palmers Park Athletics Stadium in order to play at step 6 in 2011. However, the club returned to Scours Lane in 2016, which had subsequently been upgraded to meet the ground criteria requirements, but had now been renamed the Rivermoor Stadium.

Reading City’s home colours are all blue, and their nickname is The Cityzens. The average home attendance last season was 160.

Reading City This Season

Reading City came into today’s game with a 3-1-3 league record to sit in 7^th place after 7 games. All three home league games had been won, Wokingham Town ( 1-0 ), North Leigh ( 4-0 ) and Holyport ( 4-0 ). However, away from home their record was 0-1-3, with just a 3-3 draw at Penn and Tyler’s Green, and losses at Harefield United ( 1-2 ), Hilltop ( 2-3 ) and Thatcham Town ( 0-2 )

Reading City had continued their excellent home form in the FA Cup, progressing past Tring Athletic ( 1-0 ) and Fairford Town ( 2-0 ). Would their poor form continue in their first away cup fixture ?

Reading City Squad

Riley Denny had scored 8 goals in all competitions coming into today’s game, with the next highest scorer being Shane Cooper-Clark, who scored the winning goal for Thatcham Town in the 2018 FA Vase final at Wembley, on two goals.

Ex-Thatcham and Flackwell Health forward Mo Cessay was last season’s top scorer with 18 goals, striker Henry Duxford joined in the summer from Eversley & California, and captain Stefan Brown had scored a 15-minute hat-trick in the First Round of the FA Cup for AFC Totton against Bradford Park Avenue in 2011, and had also played for Wealdstone, Maidenhead, Marlow and Oxford City.

Keeper Charlie York and defender Ellis Cowd had both made over 250 appearances for the Cityzens, whilst defender Luke Donville and midfielder Joel Valentin had made over 150 appearances.

Midfielder Lewis Hayden had previously played for Banbury United, Farnborough and Milton United.

Previous Meetings

The two sides had met 10 times in the Hellenic League between 2012/13 and 2016/17 when the clus was still called Highmoor-Ibis, with Thame winning 7 times, one draw and two wins for Highmoor-Ibis.

Thame had a 3-1-1 record at home and were 4-0-1 away from home. Highmoor-Ibis had won 2-0 at the ASM in 2013/14 and drew 2-2 there in 2012/13, but the only other time they had avoided defeat was a 1-0 home win in 2013/14.

Fatbear did not attend any of these matches, so this would be the first time watching Reading City.

Matchday Information

According to AA Route Planner the journey from Reading to Thame was 31 miles and should normally take 55 minutes via the A4074 and the A329.

The weather at 15.00 kick-off was sunny, with a temperature of 21 degrees.

Attendance was £10 for adults, £5 for concessions and £3 for Under 16s. The programme was online but no free team-sheets were available for today’s game. A cup of tea cost £1.50.

Thame made two changes from the side that won at Marlow with Curtis Brown and Ed Daffern coming into the side and Hayden Beadle and Greg Hackett dropped to the bench.

Reading City made four changes from the side that lost at Thatcham Town with keeper Kai Mussilhy, who is on loan from Chesham United, coming in for his first game of the season. Also selected were forward Lucas Taplin, left-back Liam Baker and Hayden, with Donville, Cooper-Clarke and Jenson Mansel amongst the substitutes, and keeper York was absent.

The visitors were in there normal all blue kit whilst Thame were in their usual red and black stripes, with black shorts and red socks.

Matchday Report

The game began with the first yellow card of the game with barely a minute on the clock. Thame forward Roger James spun away from Baker just inside the Reading City half and was cynically brought down, giving the referee probably his easiest decision of the match.

Thame started in a lively fashion and James won the first corner of the match with his low cross from the byline needing to be put out of play by Cowd. A scramble ensued from the corner, and Daffern saw his shot blocked.

Reading City were first seen as an attacking threat in the 8^th minute but Denny’s shot from 20 yards went a few feet wide.

Thame opening the scoring shortly after. Jack Tutton played a ball down the right-hand channel for James to run onto, and his low cross was mis-hit by Harry Alexander. However, Tutton had continued his run into the Reading City penalty area and smacked the ball home from 10 yards. It was 1-0 after 13 minutes.

Thame were now dominating the match. From a short corner Tutton set off on a mazy run inside The Cityzens area but was eventually crowded out, then Daffern and Aydin Ulas combined to send Daffern running into the penalty area, but the shot lack power and Mussilhy made a regulation save.

In between, James and Baker both dived into a challenge for the ball and the Reading City defender was fouled. The visitors claimed the tackle was high and reckless when it didn’t appear to be either,although James was perhaps fortunate as his studs were showing. Thankfully there was no injury to Baker, who didn’t need any treatment and the referee decided the only sanction required was the free-kick.

Callum Hall, Alexander and Tutton exchanged first time passes to put James clear again on the right wing, and again the low cross was put out for a corner, which was confidently caught by Mussilhy.

Daffern won Thame’s fourth corner in the opening 23 minutes following a raking cross-field pass from Dan West, and shortly after the set-piece was cleared, Brown volleyed high and wide with his left-foot after a chip into the penalty area by James.

Thame won two more corners, and from the second West’s glancing header went a couple of feet wide of the far post. A long ball from Mark Riddick looked to have possibly put Brown clear but Cowd did well to cover and make an important tackle.

A rare foray by Reading City into the Thame half saw Valentin play in Denny, but the shot from a narrow angle was held above his head by keeper James Callan.

The play then became a little bit scrappy but the referee was keen to let the game flow despite the appeals from both sides for free-kicks, and Callan made another good catch, this time from a cross from the right wing.

Denny was starting to get into the game and made a strong run towards the Thame 18-yard line but his shot lacked power and Callan made an easy save. Denny then made a similar run from the half-way line but this time passed to Valentin whose shot from the edge of the area was blocked by the sliding Hall.

The Cityzens were enjoying a good spell and Taplin won their first corner in the 39^th minute but the delivery was over-hit and went off for a throw-in to Thame near the opposite corner flag.

At the other end, Mussilhy needed to come out of his area to clear a long ball before James could reach it, then Daffern went on a strong run into the Reading City area until tackled by Cowd. The visitors quickly broke and Denny fired a low shot from the edge of the Thame area into the bottom corner giving Callan no chance. The score were now level at 1-1 with 42 minutes played.

Thame were stung into action and Tutton immediate played a pass for Brown to run onto, but his shot was partially blocked by Cowd and Mussilhy dived onto the ball as it rolled across the goalmouth.

Tutton was having an influential game for Thame and next he put James clear down the right, and his low cross was met by the onrushing Brown who slammed the ball into the net from a little over 6 yards. Mussilhy had no chance of stopping the shot and it was now 2-1 after 44 minutes.

In a copy of several Thame moves, Tutton played another pass down the right-hand channel for this time Hall to latch onto, but the drilled low ball across the Cityzens area went behind the two Thame attackers.

Thame centre-back West then appeared on the right-wing and his cross found Daffern, whose shot was blocked by a defender, and Tutton sent the rebound a couple of yards over the bar.

The first-half ended with Reading City appealing for handball when Fin Murray put the ball out for a corner, but the referee wasn’t interested in their claims. The corner bounced across the goalmouth and Thame attempted to break, but after it came to nothing the referee blew for half-time.

Thame deserved their half-time lead having had most of the possession but Reading City had looked dangerous on the occasions that had been able to attack, so it felt like there would be more goals in the second-half.

Both sides made one change at the start of the second period with Donville replacing Baker at left-back for the visitors, and Hackett came on for Daffern for Thame.

Hackett was instantly in the game, being bundled over by Dan Williamson and the referee took his time before deciding to award a free-kick to Thame just outside the penalty area. Tutton’s effort went under the wall as they jumped, but the shot lacked the power to trouble Mussilhy.

Shortly after, Thame increased their lead. Hackett lumped the ball forward to clear the Thame defensive lines and Denny was surprising the last defender back for The Cityzens, and the top scorer made a complete hash of trying to control the ball, which ran past him. James took advantage to run clear and slotted the ball past the keeper. 3-1 after 52 minutes.

The response from the visitors was for right-back Williamson to go on a 60-yard lung-bursting run down the right wing until Murray put the out for a throw-in near the corner flag. Denny then got to the byline but keeper Callan dived onto his low cross.

Hackett then got past Williamson and crashed to the floor inside the Reading City area, and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. It looked to be a soft penalty. Alexander had the chance to put the game to bed, but unlike Bank Holiday Monday where he slotted an almost perfect penalty into the top corner, this time his low effort lacked power and Mussilhy dived to his right to make the block. Alexander attempted to slide on to the loose ball but the keeper got there first and it was an obvious foul by the Thame player, who was perhaps fortunate not to receive a yellow card.

After having seemingly been heading out of the competition, The Cityzens had new belief and now looked a different side as they took the game to Thame.

Thame failed to deal with a free-kick and as the ball bounced around inside their area Hayden reacted the quickest and produced a tidy finish to stab the ball with the outside of his foot into the opposite corner from 8 yards. 3-2 with 62 minutes played.

Thame were now rocking as Reading City surged forward and Taplin fell to the floor after getting past West and the referee awarded the penalty. Just like the penalty awarded to Thame, it looked very soft, and to add salt to his wounds West was shown a yellow card for his “foul”. Taplin got up to take the spot kick and just like the Thame penalty it was poorly struck to the keeper’s right, and Callan dived to make the save. Reading City had squandered the chance to level the scores !

The Cityzens then rolled the dice by making four substitutions and started to leave gaps at the back as they took risks as they chased the game. The game became end-to-end, and both sides created plenty of chances to score the next goal.

Mussilhy produced an important punch under pressure from a cross from Alexander, then Hackett was unable to bring down a ball over the Reading City backline when clear. Shortly after, substitute Charlie Bacon cut inside from the left but his shot was blocked.

Oliver Bourne then made an important block to deny Bacon, and from the following corner West and Tutton had efforts blocked.

In the 82^nd minute it looked like Denny must level the scores after Nofal Jama had crossed from the byline, but Callan made a block from close range, and the loose ball was prodded wide.

Connor Mattimore set off on a run from half-way then across the face of the Thame 18-yard line but Hall was covering and made a great tackle to end the danger.

Thame counter-attacked through Bacon, but after getting into the Cityzen’s area his square pass went behind two attackers and the chance had gone.

With 5 minutes remaining, Hayden took possession and sent a 25-yard effort that hit the outside of the post and went off for a goal-kick. So close to the equaliser !

Thame substitute Joshua Stranks played a ball down the left-hand channel that put Hackett clear. The Thame winger cut inside into the Reading City, but a nudge in the back put him off balance when about to shoot, and as he was falling his pass failed to reach Jamie Davies. The referee waved for play to continue.

As the game moved into added time Thame keeper Callan punched away a cross from the right-wing, then Donville had a long-range effort blocked.

The end-to-end nature of the game continued as Hackett and Davies combined to set up Bacon but Mussilhy produced a top save, diving to his left to push the shot from 12 yards. After the corner was cleared to edge of the area, Tutton’s effort hit the top of the cross bar and went over.

As the match moved into its 6^th minute of added time, Reading City won a corner, but the delivery was poor and cleared by the first Thame defender. Reading City regained possession and a cross was sent towards the far post but under pressure Jama could only head a couple of yards wide.

The referee blew for full time and Thame breathed a huge sigh of relief to hang onto the win and to enter Monday’s draw for the next round. Reading City would probably be wishing they could have played as well as they did in the final 30 minutes for the most of the first half.

Thame United : Callan – Hall, West, Murray, Ulas ( Stranks ) – Alexander ( Davies ), Tutton, Riddick, Daffern ( Hackett ) – James ( Beadle ), Brown ( Bacon )

Reading City : Mussilhy – Williamson ( Mansel ), Bourne, Cowd, Baker ( Donville ) – Harris ( Cooper-Clarke ), Hayden, Valentin, Paxford ( Mattimore )– Denny, Taplin ( Jama )

 

Chinnor 55-0 Leicester Tigers ( att : 3,000 ) – 2026/27 Pre-Season Friendly

September 4, 2026

Tonight was a historic night for Chinnor as Leicester Tigers became the first ever side from the Premiership to visit or even play against Chinnor. Last season’s 5^th place in the Champ made Chinnor the 15^th best side in England but even a friendly again Leicester, who finished 4^th in the regular Premiership table before losing a play-off semi-final at Northampton, would normally be a tough ask.

Whilst all of Leicester’s current internationals would be on enforced rest due to their participation in the summer’s Nations Championship matches, the RFU had unexpectedly scheduled the start of the Prem Cup much earlier than expected, resulting in Leicester also having a Prem Cup match at Harlequins tomorrow, so it was uncertain how strong a side would take to the field for the Tigers tonight, or if there would be any past or future internationals to be added to the list of players who had graced the Chinnor pitch and then went on to play international rugby. Members of this club currently included Ellis Genge, Eliot Millar-Mills, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, Joe Marlar, Ross Moriarty, Ben Vellacott, Billy Burns, George Furbank, Max Malins and Matt Gallagher !

Leicester Tigers

Leicester are the most successful side in English club rugby history, and are one of only three sides to have played every season in the top division since leagues were introduced in 1987/88, the other two being Bath and Gloucester. In that time Tigers had won the title on 11 occasions and finished runners-up on another 8 occasions.

In addition, the European Heineken Cup was won in consecutive seasons, beating Stade Francais 34-30 in 2001 and Munster 15-9 in 2002, whilst Leicester were runners-up in 1997, 2007 and 2009.

Between 1979 and 1997, Leicester won the RFU Knockout Cup ( John Player & Pilkington Cups ) 5 times, and were runners-up 5 times between 1978 and 1996.

Other titles included winning the Anglo-Welsh Cup three times ( 2007, 2012 and 2017 ), and last season the Prem Cup was won for the first time, thrashing Exeter Chiefs 66-14 in the final.

Naturally Leicester had provided an impressive list of players for the British Lions, including Martin Johnson, Neil Back, Peter Wheeler, Clive Woodward, Rory Underwood, Dean Richards, Austin Healey, Graham Rowntree, Dan Cole, Martin Corry, Dusty Hare, Paul Dodge, Ollie Chessum, Ben Youngs, Manu Tuilagi and current club coach Geoff Parling.

Notable England internationals numbered Les Cusworth, Will Greenwood, Tony Underwood, Nick Youngs, Richard Cockerill, Lewis Moody, Ben Kay, George Ford, Ellis Genge, Tom Youngs, Freddie Steward, Dorian West and Jack van Poortvliet.

Wikipedia showed that 181 players had represented their country whilst a Leicester player, spread as far and wide as Argentina, Italy, South Africa, Australia, France, Fiji, USA, Samoa, Tonga, Canada Georgia and even Sweden !

Home is the 25,849 capacity Welford Road, the largest club rugby club ground in England, except for when sides play showcase games at stadiums such as Twickenham or Cardiff, or football stadiums eg Tottenham, Aston Villa, Newcastle etc.

Watching Leicester Tigers

Fatbear has seen Leicester play on one previous occasion, in December 1996 when they travelled to The Stoop to play Harlequins in a league game. Quins were third in the table, but league leaders Leicester won 34-18. This was before the Tigers suffix had been added to their name but the home side were officially NEC Harlequins at the time !

The internationals in the Leicester side that day were Rory Underwood, who scored two tries, Martin Johnson, Neil Back, Graham Rowntree and Irish fly-half Niall Malone. Dean Richards was listed in the programme as being in the side but was replaced before kick-off. Also in the side were Austin Healey, Will Greenwood, Richard Cockerill and Darren Garforth who would go on to become full internationals.

The Harlequins line-up included England Internationals Will Carling & Jason Leonard, Irish hooker Keith Wood, French forwards Laurent Benezech and Laurent Cabannes and Welsh lock Gareth Llewellyn. Rugby League International Gary Connolly was in the centre whilst another Rugby League cross-over, scrum-half Robbie Paul was amongst the substitutes.

Back in those days, Leicester’s players wore letters rather than numbers on the back of their shirts, with A being the loose-head prop, through to O being the full-back. Interestingly, the Tigers were wearing letters tonight but they were not easy to read !

 

Chinnor Update

So far Chinnor had announced the retention of 22 players from last season including 6 of the front-row and lock Jamie Campbell, who ruled the line-outs last season. There was no news so far on Kieran Goss, Willie Ryan, Freddie Owsley, George Stokes and Cameron Rafferty, but the only departures in the public domain were three fringe/reserve players joining London Scottish.

New signings included fly-half/full-back Richie Simpson from Ealing Trailfinders, who had impressed in his one game on loan at Chinnor last season. Ex-Coventry Australian fly-half Liam Richman had signed after a year playing in Italy, full-back Jack Metcalf was playing in France for Rouen last season having previously played for Sale, Ealing, Doncaster and Newcastle, whilst veteran Samoan prop James Johnston ( 16 caps ) had joined from Ampthill.

Highly-rated lock forward Harry Gilson-Fox had moved from Rotherham, centre George Wacokecoke ended the season at Camborne after having previously been with Doncaster, full-back Ben Currie joined from Cambridge, and South Africa back-row forward Josh Du Toit had played for False Bay.

Off the field, another a covered terrace stand had been installed on one half of the far side of the ground to provide additional protection should it start raining.

Chinnor and Leicester Connections

The current Leicester squad actually includes two ex-Chinnor players. Welsh winger Ryan Crowley made 13 appearances in between RAF commitments before signing for Leicester last autumn where he made 7 appearances in the Prem Cup, scoring two tries.

Hooker Theo Theobald-Thomas played 5 games for Chinnor on loan from Gloucester in 2022/23 after being made redundant following the demise of Worcester Warriors. He then made a further 8 appearances for Chinnor on loan from Leicester in the 2023/24 season. To-date, Theobald Thomas had made 30 appearances for the Tigers, including 16 last season.

Winger Tom Varndell started in the minis and juniors at Chinnor before moving on to make his name at Leicester, Wasps and Bristol and winning 4 England caps.

Lock/back-row forward Scott Hall began his career at Chinnor, making one appearance in 2016 before going to Nottingham University. Whilst playing for Nottingham, Hall made two loan appearances for Leicester as cover for Prem Cup matches, and returned to Chinnor in 2024.

Back-row forward Fred Tuilagi made 8 appearances for Leicester in Premiership Cup matches, played 26 matches for Chinnor in 2021/22, and now plays for Bedford Blues.

In recent years, three Tigers had enjoyed loan spells at Chinnor. Flanker Monty Loggenberg made two substitute appearances for Chinnor last season on loan from Leicester but has now joined French Pro D2 side Beziers.

Prop Tim Hoyt made 6 appearances on loan from Leicester in 2024/25 before moving on to Worcester Warriors and becoming a full international for Fiji. In the summer, Hoyt joined French Top 14 side Lyon.

Winger Joe Browning played 7 times for Chinnor in two loan spells between 2023 to 2024, scoring 7 scintillating tries during his time at the club.

Kingsey Road would not have been a new experience for a handful of the Tigers squad though. Locks Finn Carduff, Osian Thomas and Tom Manz plus props Archie van der Flier and Ale Loman played here whilst loaned out to Nottingham in 2025 and suffered a 12-41 defeat, whilst scrum-half Tom Whiteley played for Bishop’s Stortford back in 2015 !

Four Leicester Academy players were in the England Under 18s side that were battered by the French Under 18s at Chinnor in March, namely prop Kwame Bekoe, lock Fin Charles, and back-row forwards Seva Batikora and Henry Johnson.

Matchday Information

According to AA route planner, the journey from Leicester to Thame is 89 miles and should normally take one hour 40 minutes.

The weather at the 19.45 kick-off was dry and 17 degrees and the infamous Chinnor breeze was absent.

Tickets for the game were £20 for adults, £18 for concessions, £10 for full-time students, £5 for 10-16-year olds, whilst under 10s were allowed in free.  All tickets were sold a day before the match.

Disappointingly, the Leicester side this evening consisted of Senior and Junior Academy players, and a few others not even listed on their website. Their captain was flanker Dylan Chessum, presumably the younger brother of Lewis and Ollie, and the Under 18 internationals Charles and Bekoe were paired as the locks, and prop Batikora was amongst the substitutes. Cameron Rafferty was also named on the bench, presumably the same player who made 29 appearances for Chinnor over the past two seasons ?

Chinnor named 13 substitutes so a lot of second half changes would be expected, but there were starts for Johnston, Du Toit, Richman, Metcalf and Simpson, and powerful centre Morgan Passman was surprisingly starting at Number 8.

Leicester were playing in their traditional green, white and red hooped shirts, with white shorts and black socks. Chinnor were in their usual black and white hoops, with black shorts and socks.

Match Report

Fear that this was going to be mis-match were quickly realised as Chinnor wing Grant Hughes crossed three times in the opening 15 minutes as Chinnor took a 17-0 lead.

Chinnor were simply too big, too strong, too fast and too good, and the opening try was a sign of things to come as the Tigers scrum was pushed off their ball, and after a couple of drives were halted a long pass enabled Hughes to canter over in the corner. 5-0 after 3 minutes.

The second try came from a failure to intercept a risky long pass to winger Metcalf, who raced down the touchline but was tackled short of the try-line. Chinnor recycled possession, put the ball through a number of hands with Hughes having to do a lot more work this time, but barged over. Again, a difficult conversion was missed so it was 10-0 with 8 minutes played.

Tigers had a brief spell of possession but were making little impression on the home defence but were eventually able to force a penalty, which was kicked into the Chinnor 22. Although Tigers won their line-out, Chinnor were able to win turnover ball, and Metcalf made a break and then kicked to the Leicester 22, but a covering defender cleared to touch. Tigers actually stole the Chinnor line-out but the Chinnor pack won a turnover, enabling scrum-half Callum Pascoe to make a break from the ruck and after being tackled, the ball went through a number of hands to give Hughes an overlap score in the corner. This time Richman was successful from the tee, taking the score to 17-0 with 16 minutes on the clock.

There was another brief spell of play inside the Chinnor 22 when the home side were caught offside from the clearing kick after the restart, and the line-out was thrown long which Leicester were able to gather but the drive from prop Ben Beere was halted and Chinnor forced a penalty.

Conor Brockschmidt won the subsequent line-out for Chinnor and Passman made a trademark break, running half the length of the field with defenders bouncing off him before being illegally stopped. The penalty was kicked to 5 metres, and Campbell won the line-out leading to the pack rumbling over the tryline. Passman was credited with the try, and after another missed conversion the score moved to 22-0 after 21 minutes.

The Tigers pack continued to go backwards at a rate of knots but scrum-half James Townsend was getting adept at quickly getting the ball away from the base of the scrum but on this occasion his run was ended by a tackle by Metcalf, who then showed the greater strength to rip the ball away from the Tigers scrum-half.

However, Townsend was powerless at the next scrum as Chinnor pushed the visitors’ pack off the ball and after the ball was spread wide, Simpson scorched down the touchline to score in the corner. Another difficult conversion slipped wide so the score was now 27-0 after 26 minutes.

A period of scrappy play followed until the referee stopped play due to an injury to Leicester lock Charles, who had to leave the field and be replaced. The game resumed with a scrum to Tigers, which was steady this time.

A promising Leicester move was brought to a halt after a pass that was only about 5 metres forward. After the Chinnor scrum, Richman chipped ahead but the ball hilariously bounced wickedly away from both the chasing attackers and defenders. After several knock-ons, Tigers claimed the ball but could only pass straight to Chinnor’s Metcalf who had an easy stroll under the posts. Unfortunately for the home side the referee had spotted at least one of the knock-ons, and disallowed the try and awarded a scrum to Leicester.

Tigers again ran the ball from the scrum but dropped the ball in midfield. The Tigers scrum was again marched back 10 metres, and when Chinnor ran the ball, Metcalf stepped inside from his wing but was tackled short of the tryline. When Chinnor attempted to move from right to left the move ended with a Dambuster pass and a knock-on.

Leicester were able to take play back into the Chinnor 22, but after Campbell won a line-out, Chinnor kicked to touch to end the half.

Tigers must have been given some strong words during the interval as they started the second half on the front foot but were unable to make any impression on the Chinnor defence. They did win a penalty following which some handbags broke-out, but after consulting with his assistant the referee reversed his decision and awarded the penalty to Chinnor.

Brockschmidt won the line-out, Currie made a break but was tackled short of the line. Several drives were stopped until Richman looked up and chipped to the corner for the unmarked James Bourton to catch and flop over the line. Simpson took over the kicking duties and added the extras taking the score to 34-0 with 45 minutes played.

Chinnor nearly scored shortly after the restart but after Campbell charged down an attempted clearing kick inside the Leicester 22, the Chinnor forwards were pinged in their eagerness to get to the loose ball.

The Tigers defenders were now working overtime to prevent further scores, as Will Cave was unable to hold onto an offload from Simpson, and a good run from Tom Watson was ended by a tackle close to the tryline.

A snipping run from substitute scrum-half Luke Carter forced another penalty, which took Chinnor back to 5 metres from the Leicester tryline. Wacokecoke was able to dance over the line after Chinnor spread the ball from the line-out and it was now Nathan Chamberlain’s turned to knock over the conversion. 41-0 after 55 minutes.

Leicester had a half-opening following a chip ahead, but the Tigers player who got to the ball first kicked poorly ahead and the ball went dead, and would have been covered by a Chinnor defender anyway.

Chinnor squandered a good opportunity by infringing at their 5 metres line-out and Tigers worked their way up the field to the Chinnor 22. After Gilson-Fox won Chinnor line-out ball, Chinnor went the length of the field, with Dugmore’s off-load giving Carter a run under the posts. Chamberlain added the easy conversion so Chinnor now lead 48-0 with 65 minutes played.

Another flowing Chinnor move ended with Joe Brock being hauled down short of the line, then Tigers next venture into the Chinnor 22 was thwarted by conceding a penalty at their 5-metre line-out.

There was still time for one more try. Chinnor kicked a penalty into the Leicester 22, and from the lineout, Carter broke but was tackled short of the whitewash. A number of Chinnor forwards barged over the line and the referee awarded the try although it wasn’t clear who the scorer was. Chamberlain again added the extras to give Chinnor a half-century off points. It was 55-0 after 78 minutes.

Chinnor were able to take play back into the Leicester 22, but after messing up a rolling maul from a lineout the referee brought an end to the proceedings.

Leicester deserved huge credit in the first place for agreeing to come to Chinnor, and Fatbear felt a little sorry for them giving the Prem Cup fixture scheduling after this friendly had been agreed. It would have been easy for Leicester to use that as an excuse to cry-off but they fulfilled their commitments and 3,000 spectators, quite a few of them wearing Leicester shirts, got to enjoy a Friday night out watching some rugby.

The Tiger cubs also deserve praise for their commitment during the match and they worked hard to deny Chinnor a number of try scoring chances and to keep the score down. However, Chinnor showed they are a good side, and demonstrated the gulf that exists between Junior Academy sides and The Champ. Sad to say that not one of the Tigers’ players tonight looked capable of being loaned to a Champ side this season, but that is not to say some of them won’t develop into top class or even internationals with a few more years’ experience.   Hopefully they will have learnt something from tonight’s game !

Chinnor ( 15 to 1 ) : Simpson – Metcalf, Watson, Bourton, Hughes – Richman, Pascoe – Passman, Cave, Du Toit – Brockschmidt, Campbell – Johnston, Thompson, Rukhadze

Replacements ( 16 to 25 ): Walker, Owen, Hardwick, Gilson-Fox, Dugmore, Wharton, Hall, Carter, Chamberlain, Brock, Wacokecoke, Currie, Smith

Leicester Tigers ( O to A ) : Robinson - Stickings, Milner, Myall, Gordon-Astbury – Talbot, Townsend – Smith, Poyser, Chessum – Bekoe, Charles – Ayiehfor, Longyear, Beere

Replacements ( P to X ) : Hanna, Pybus, Batikora, Rafferty, Brown, James, Cadden, Colbert, Bunch