April 22, 2022
Chinnor vs Rams is a great example of two local sides who work together for mutual benefit rather than to create division, as both sides have risen up from the lower South West Divisions to achieve National League One status, and thrive at that level. Typically, when Chinnor achieved promotion, Rams followed suit a year or two later.
One feature of the good relationship between the two clubs are the matches each Christmas and Easter between the Under 23s and returning students for each club. The results are relatively unimportant, rather than the fact the matches are being played !
The first Friday night lights match between the two sides was agreed for January 2020 at Chinnor when 1,020 spectators witnessed Rams hang on to secure a 21-17 victory in a game between two of the best 30 sides in the country at the time. That match was covered in these diaries.
https://fatbearssportingdiaries.blogspot.com/2020/01/chinnor-17-21-rams-att-1020.html
Unfortunately, the
return fixture between the two sides had to be cancelled due to the pandemic,
and the scheduled Friday night 2021 pre-Christmas fixture at Rams between the
two sides under their floodlights had to be postponed due to Covid in the
Chinnor camp.
The fixture was rearranged for a Friday night in February 2022, when 1,021 turned up to witness Rams secure a 38-22 victory. Rams had built an apparently invincible 24-8 lead early in the second half, but two tries on the counter had brought Chinnor back to 24-22 with twenty minutes to play. Chinnor then butchered a try to take the lead, and two late tries secured the win for Rams, which overall was a fair result, with Rams back row forward Robbie Stapley grabbing three tries and the man-of-the-match award. The match was live streamed over the internet, providing a great advert for National League One rugby.
Rams went into tonight’s match in 6th position in the National League One table, one place above Chinnor, but 17 points ahead of them. Rams had a 7-0-6 away record, and although Chinnor had an ordinary 6-0-7 record, they had won their last 3 home matches.
A typically close encounter was expected between the two close rivals and another bumper crowd for a Friday night floodlight fixture was expected, with long queues at the bars !
After the recent warm spell, the temperature today had dropped at kick-off to a mere 12 degrees and with the traditional Chinnor breeze it was quickly becoming quite chilly. The fading sunlight was also creating visibility issues across the pitch !
Chinnor kicked-off with the wind towards the ring-road end, and almost immediately Rams flanker Connor Stapley looked as if he had been hit by Mike Tyson, staggering around on unstable legs and had to be escorted from the field. Chinnor continued to press, and with a penalty advantage close to the Rams line, a long floated pass from fly-half Walsh gave winger Worrall a simple opportunity to cross the line. With the difficult conversion missed it was 5-0 after 7 minutes.
Rams responded quickly, and after a series of drives close to the Chinnor line No 8 Robbie Stapley proved far too strong and burrowed over close to the posts, and ex-Chinnor colt Sam Nicholls added the extras to make it 5-7 with 12 minutes played.
An end-to-end nature to the game was already established, with frequent turn overs, and after a promising Rams attack was thwarted, Chinnor hooker Darlington was able to hack clear deep into Rams territory, and from a similar move to their first try, Walsh threw a long pass over the Rams defence which Manning was able to gather to score. This time Nick Smith was able to covert to make it 12-7 after 17 minutes.
The frantic nature of the game continued but a promising Chinnor attack ended in disaster as an ambitious offload from Smith went behind the Chinnor centres for Rams winger Henry Bird to pick up and saunter under the posts to give Rams a 14-12 lead after 32 minutes.
Chinnor finished the half strongly, and after a series of drives close to the Rams line, flanker Willie Ryan barged over, and with a straight forward conversion Chinnor went into the interval with a 19-14 lead.
Rams made an immediate response at the start of the second half, and although Bird’s kick ahead didn’t seem to be of any obvious danger, the covering defenders failed to react quickly enough and the Rams winger was able to touch down for an unexpected try. Nicholls’ excellent touch-line conversion put Rams ahead again as 19-21.
Their lead didn’t last long though, as a flowing backs movement from Chinnor saw wing Hodson cut back from the touchline through the Rams defence to score under the posts to make it 26-21 to Chinnor after 45 minutes.
Chinnor were probably still patting themselves on the back when Rams kicked off, and were caught napping as Bird caught the kick and ran unopposed down the wing and over the line for an immediate response. Nicholls again impressively converted to give Rams a 28-26 lead.
The chaos of the game continued when a series of Rams drives led to an almost inevitable score for Bryant through some flimsy tackling, and the simple conversion gave Rams 35-26 lead with 52 minutes on the clock.
The game of basketball continued as Chinnor camped in the Rams 22 and from a line-out drive No 8 Fred Tuilagi was driven over, but the missed conversion left the score 31-35 with just over 20 minutes to play.
Chinnor frantically attacked but another poor off-load, this time by Walsh was intercepted by Hayhow, and although his long distance run to the line was denied by a fantastic tackle by Hodson, the Rams support players reworked possession to give Humberstone an easy run to the line. Nicholls first miss from the tee hit the post leaving the Rams with a 40-31 lead with under 15 minutes remaining.
It was looking grim for the home side, but another spell of pressure in the Rams 22 saw centre Grose tackled just short of the line, but scrum-half Carter was able to scamper over for a much needed score, and the conversion brought Chinnor back to 38-40 with ten minutes left to play.
Both sides had chances to settle the result in a mad final few minutes. However, Chinnor were able to camp in the Rams 22 in the closing stages, and after a series of drives close to the line, hooker Darlington crossed for the decisive score. Although Smith’s conversion drifted wide with time-up on the scoreboard clock, there was still time for a restart with Chinnor leading 43-40. However, the home side were able to gather the restart, and a kick into touch brought an end to an amazingly ridiculous contest, and much jubilation from the Chinnor supporters !
There were 13 tries in the match and the lead changed hands 8 times. It was exceptional entertainment for Chinnor’s largest crowd of the season, but the defensive coaches are probably still having nightmares.
Highlights : https://www.chinnor-rfc.com/videos/trylights--chinnor-43-rams-40-178720.html
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