January 22, 2021
Since these diaries
covered Chinnor’s home loss to Bishop’s Stortford in mid-December, they have
played only one more fixture. The eagerly anticipated Friday Night Lights pre-Christmas
derby at Rams was postponed due to an outbreak of Covid in the Chinnor camp,
and it was their turn for the blank weekend at the start of the New Year. Flanker
Max Clementson left the club to become part of the England 7s squad and prop
Rob Hardwick, on loan from Wasps, had been called in the England Under 20
squad.
When they finally set
foot on the field of play, they achieved an outstanding 31-24 win against the
big beasts of Cinderford in the Forest of Dean to continue a remarkable
sequence of results of winning at Dockham Road, whereas Cinderford have a
strong record at Chinnor. It was only the Forrester’s second home loss of the
season. As a result, Chinnor moved back upto 6th in the National
League One table 9 points behind second placed Caldy, but with two games in
hand.
Moseley are one of the
famous names of English club rugby having reached the John Player Cup final in
1972 and 1979 and sharing the title in 1982 after a 12-12 draw with Gloucester.
My first awareness of the club was flanker Nick Jeavons being selected to play
for England, winning 14 caps, and being an injury call-up for the 1983 British
Lions tour to New Zealand.
Moseley were relegated
from the Championship in 2015/16, after which the name of the club was changed
to Birmingham Moseley. Since relegation their highest position in National
League One was 5th in 2016/17, and in 2018/19 and 2019/20 they flirted
with relegation. Since Chinnor’s promotion to National League One the sides
have only met once at Kingsey Road, when relegation threatened Moseley produced
a stunning display to win 41-7 to more or else ensure their survival. In
contrast, the sides have met three times at Billesley Common, with Chinnor
emerging victorious on all three occasions, including a 29-22 win earlier this
season.
Moseley went into
today’s encounter in 11th position, 4 points above the relegation
zone with 6 wins and 9 losses. They started the season with three consecutive
victories before succumbing to Chinnor in round 4. Whilst being solid at home,
their away form was 2-0-6, with the wins coming at Caldy ( 24-0 ) in September
and Blackheath ( 24-17 ) in January.
Included in the
Moseley line-up today was lock/flanker Kailus Hutchinson, who made one
substitute appearance for Chinnor in 2017/18 whilst on loan from Coventry.
The weather at
kick-off was dry with a temperature of 6 degrees but the breeze was chilly and
the floodlights were already on. Two coaches from Birmingham were parked in the
car park so there was a sizeable support for the visitors, nearly all of whom
stayed on the side of the ground where the bars are !
Moseley were in a pink
and black strip rather than their usual red and black hoops, and from the
kick-off Chinnor immediately put them under pressure. An early penalty was
kicked to the corner, and when the rolling maul was held up, the ball was spun
wide, but a great covering tackle by full-back Benjamin prevented wing Hodson
from scoring in the corner.
As a sign of things to
come, Moseley won a scrum penalty, but they then conceded a penalty for crossing.
Chinnor opted to go for the posts but Bourton’s kick from around 35 metres in
front of the posts sailed to the right. However, the play remained in the
Moseley half and from a line-out near to the 22 yard line, Chinnor’s rolling
maul rumbled over the try line with hooker Eliot Chilvers credited with the
try. Bourton’s simple conversion made it 7-0 after 12 minutes.
The Moseley kick-off
was the first time they had entered the Chinnor half, and a hack through took
play into the Chinnor 22, but the covering defender was able to clear, and play
was soon back in the Moseley half. However, Chinnor were unable to convert into
points, and wing Bulumakau made a great break down the touch line and fed
Benjamin to go over close to the posts. With Bale’s conversion the score was
7-7 after 22 minutes.
Chinnor’s response was
immediate, and after full-back Nick Smith made a good break, the ball went through
several hands before flanker Willie Ryan crashed over. With the conversion from Bourton being
missed it was 12-7 after 24 minutes.
Chinnor continued to
press, and fly-half Caolan Ryan’s chip from the edge of the Moseley 22 bounced
away from covering defender Tonks for Worrall to claim and dive over the line.
With a conversion from close to the posts it became 19-7 after 28 minutes.
At this point it
looked a question of how many Chinnor would win by, but the Moseley pack then
started to assert themselves at the scrum. Winning a scrum penalty on the
Chinnor 22, they kicked to the corner for a 5 metre line-out, but after a
series of drives a knock on from Hutchinson ended the move. Moseley were soon
back on the attack though, and after another scrum penalty, they opted for
another scrum rather than a 5 metre line-out. Another scrum penalty was won and
a yellow card was shown to Chinnor hooker Terry. At the next scrum Moseley looked
to be heading over the Chinnor line, but control of the ball was lost. However,
another penalty was awarded in their favour, and this time the inevitable
penalty try was awarded to make it 19-14 after 39 minutes.
There was still time
for Chinnor to win a penalty on the Moseley 10 metre line for offside, and with
half-time imminent, they opts to go for the posts, and Bourton added the three
points from around 40 metres to make the half-time score 22-14 to the home
side.
After being outplayed
in the opening 30 minutes, Moseley had come back strongly in the last 10
minutes, and their strength at the scrum was starting to look ominous for
Chinnor.
The second half
started brightly, first with Chinnor’s backs making a good break down the left
wing only to be halted by a knock-on, before Moseley wing Tonks made a great
break from his own 22, and a try looked certain only for the referee to bring
play back for a forward pass.
In the 44th
minute, Chinnor lost control of the ball at a scrum, but after a bit of
pin-ball, scrum-half Walsh gathered and kicked ahead for winger Goss to claim
and race to the line. Again, the conversion was wide, but Chinnor’s lead was
now 29-14.
There then followed a
series of plays which would have delighted fans of Pontypool in the 1980s.
After a penalty, and 5 meter line-out rolling maul had comfortably been quelled,
Moseley won another penalty but again opted for a scrum. After three
consecutive scrum penalties were awarded, a yellow-card was shown to again reduce
Chinnor to 14 men. From the next scrum, scrum-half Walsh illegally prevented a
try, and with another yellow card, Chinnor were down to 13 !
The next scrum needed
to be reset, but at the next, remarkably Moseley lost control of the ball and
Chinnor were able to hack clear into the Moseley 22. Chinnor won the line-out
and as their rolling maul inched closer to the try line, they were joined by
all but 2 of their players still on the pitch, but Moseley were able to hold up
the drive. From the next move, Chinnor looked likely to score in the corner but
substitute Aquile Smith slapped away the pass for a deliberate knock-on, which
now made it 13 vs 14.
When it then becoming
14 vs 14, Moseley were now under pressure, and after committing another
infringement at a ruck, Chinnor were back at their 5 metre line. Following a
Moseley knock-on, Chinnor lost control at the scrum and the ball was kicked
into the Chinnor 22, but Goss won the foot-race and cleared to half-way.
With 8 minutes
remaining centre Isaac McNulty went on a scintillating run, beating three
defenders to score out wide, but the conversion attempt hit the bar so the
score become 27-19.
Another good move
between Worrall and Hodson saw Chinnor back in the Moseley 22, and a knock-on
from the line-out gave Chinnor a scrum 8 yards out. Predictably though, Moseley
won a penalty at the scrum, and dissent gave them another 10 yards to clear.
Moseley continued to
press, and after another series of penalties, good defence by Chinnor prevented
them from crossing the try line, and with the referee advising there was still
2 and half minutes left to play, the visitors opted to take the easy three
points on offer to get within losing bonus point range, with still the hope of
winning the match. Allsopp kicked the penalty.
Shortly after the
restart, Isaac McNulty went on another tremendous run to take play back to the
Chinnor half, and when Chinnor transgressed, Moseley kicked to the corner. The
Moseley rolling maul again had little impact but when the ball was spread wide,
a penalty was awarded against Chinnor. Predictably Moseley opted to scrum
again, and after more penalties another yellow card was awarded against Chilvers,
his second and hence a red card, and eventually another penalty try was awarded
to end the game with a 29-27 victory to Moseley.
Overall it was a slightly bizarre match, with Moseley becoming the latest side to exposure Chinnor’s weakness at the scrum, and unusually opting to scrum at every opportunity rather than go for 5 metre line-outs and rolling mauls, which Chinnor were able to easily defend. For Chinnor, it was yet another home defeat after being in a winning position. By picking up 2 points from the match, they remained in 6th place in the table, and now 11 points off second place with two games in hand.
Highlights : https://www.chinnor-rfc.com/videos/trylights--chinnor-27-birmingham-moseley-29-175613.html
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